


Gods Awaken

by RobbyA



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - Fandom, Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Lovecraftian, Nyarlathotep - Freeform, The Owl House - Freeform, Witches, boiling isles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 53,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28170804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobbyA/pseuds/RobbyA
Summary: Cthulhu Mythos x The Owl House crossover
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

"Come on, class," the teacher announced in a stern voice.

On that day, a class from Hexside School of Magic and Demonics was on a field trip sponsored by the potion's coven. It was to a museum that purported to be a documentation of the history of the Boiling Isles. The students walked in an orderly line behind their teacher who himself followed the tour guide, a small rabbit like creature with a bow tie.

"If you look all around you, you can see that several of these creatures had managed to bleed out of our world and into others."

The tour guide pointed to different anomalies some stuffed, others mounted on the walls. Griffins were suspended from the ceiling mimicking their movements in life; vampires were placed in tanks fashioned as coffins. Within those tanks were a green-yellow liquid supposedly to preserve their corpses and to keep them from getting exposed to light. Large tarantulas were placed in an array aligning the floors which led to artificial plants and trees.

The tour guide turned his attention to the class. "Are there any questions on your mind?"

One student raised their hand.

"Yes?" the tour guide asked.

The student was a cyclops whose eye nearly engulfed his face. "What is that one over there?"

"Where are you looking at, kid?" the tour guide inquired.

The student pointed his finger towards the far end of the room. The tour guide squinted his eyes to process what he was being directed to and slowly recognized the sight before him.

"Oh, that," he said, "it was initially meant to have been relocated because of some being fearful that it would be too...troublesome."

"Well, is it possible that we at least catch a small glimpse of what it is?" the teacher asked, "now that he had raised awareness of it, we cannot simply ignore it."

The tour guide scratched his chin deep in thought. After pondering it for a few seconds, he sighed. "You have really twisted my arm, but I suppose I can at least tell you the history of it."

They followed the tour guide towards the site of inquiry. Their eyes widened in amazement: before them towered, a colossal figure wearing attire alien to the witches of the Boiling Isles. It had a massive kilt splayed across its pelvis and reached down to its feet. Upon further inspection, the figure's eyes were obscured with only its wide maw being visible. Rows of pointed, jagged teeth were littered in its mouth. One could even say that there were actually two rows of teeth, some teeth being so wide and mammoth, the figure's mouth could not fully close. On the head of the creature, it wore pieces of cloth that came together to form a headpiece. The strands of fabric also rolled down its back.

Another student stepped closer to the figure now realizing that it was a statue. "Who is this?"

The tour guide hopped over. Before he said anything else, he took his finger and drew a circle in the air. A small ball of light formed in his hand. "This being," he started, "preexisted the Boiling Isles."

He walked towards the student and illuminated the area with his ball of light. "Thousands of years ago before the Boiling Isles' recorded history, this being appeared one day seemingly with little rhyme nor reason. He went by many names, but the one he preferred the most was Nyarlathotep."

Around the statue of Nyarlathotep were murals depicting the Boiling Isles at different points in its development. He was prominently on display one mural in particular being the most disconcerting. A red ball of fire appeared before a small group of witches. Behind the ball was a long, spindling tail. From the look of horror on the witches' faces, the event was not met with warm reception.

"Where he came from no one knows," the tour guide emphasized, "but what he did do next proved to be for our good."

He flashed the light ball in another mural illustrating Nyarlathotep forming a circle and rays of that shape went to the witches. "Long before Emperor Belos and the coven system, Nyarlathotep bestowed the early inhabitants magic."

The students looked at themselves. They were never once told by their parents or their teachers that a being likely from another dimension granted them magic. And certainly not the notion that it preexisted the Isles itself.

The guide seemed to know what they were thinking. "This information was initially removed from the historical records and was only accessible to the most secretive of archives."

"What is happening there?" the teacher asked.

They saw murals depicting the children of the early natives being tied to stakes and set ablaze before Nyarlathotep. The smoke of the mass fires danced around him. Inscriptions of ancient rituals detailing the sacrifices accompanied the grizzly imagery. But in return for the sacrifices, Nyarlathotep conjured rainclouds that poured down on the witches.

"It was best understood that the people of the Isles were indebted to their god," the tour guide clarified, "so they offered him their own flesh and blood in order for Nyarlathotep to continue providing them with blessings."

The teacher scanned the inscriptions but could not process what they were alluding to. "What happened to those that refused?" He shrugged. "I mean, surely some would be opposed to that."

The tour guide frowned. "Oh, yes; there were some who obviously had misgivings with his demands. But that is what happened to them."

He lifted the light ball higher revealing the bigger picture. Villages that Nyarlathotep visited were razed to the ground with their dark god being the perpetrator behind the senseless assaults. Each mural depicted the same thing: witches standing up to oppose him only to be immediately quashed. In each mural, Nyarlathotep was in a different form some resembling winged beasts and satyrs. Sometimes Nyarlathotep would merely send gusts of wind to topple houses and buildings.

"Everywhere Nyarlathotep went, death was almost always a guarantee," the tour guide said, "people were not even safe in their dreams for he would send madness-inducing nightmares into their subconscious safe haven. It would remain that way until one day, someone stood up for the children of the Isles."

A hooded figure stood before the dark figure without any weapon or army to assist them. Nyarlathotep shot his dark power towards the figure only for it to be reflected onto him. After a lengthy battle, Nyarlathotep's boding figure was licked away until he was cornered by the hooded figure and a few of the witches. With his power stripped away, Nyarlathotep was fired on with his own magic and was encased in a glass prison.

"And so, thanks to this mysterious stranger, the Boiling Isles was freed from Nyaralthotep's tyranny and he was encased in this glass prison that you see here."

The light danced on Nyaralathep's glass case. "But before he was made to slumber, Nyarlathotep threatened that he would return once the thousand-year imprisonment reached its end and that he would send someone to act as his representative until he returned to full power."

The cyclops noticed a book.

"Oh, that book?" the tour guide observed, "the hooded figure wrote the book and told for one of his countrymen to hide it far out of the reach of any of Nyarlathotep's followers; inside that book, he had the magical incantation that could return Nyarlathotep to his full power." The tour guide closed his hands over the light ball. "It was said that more copies of this book exist, but I suppose one should take the entire story with a grain of salt."

He clapped his hands together to get the class's attention. "Now, who wants to learn about different types of poison?"

They cheerfully applauded and followed after the tour guide. The teacher dragged his feet trying to follow suit. "Wait, guys, what did I say about an orderly line?"

The history exhibit became deathly silent not too long after they left. But in their excitement, no one noticed that a crack on the statue's torso was forming.


	2. Boscha's Anger

Boscha threw her brush against her mirror, smashing it. Shards of glass rained down to the floor, but the three-eyed girl was too enraged to take note of it. Her dark pink hair was in disarray from Boscha savagely tearing her bow from her hair. 

“That blasted half-a-witch...” she groaned. 

She collapsed on her bed with a thud. Why, why does her thoughts always go back to that glasses-wearing nerd? Even though she and her team the Banshees won the Grudgby match between Luz and her friends, Boscha’s victory felt hollow. Sure, she may have won, but her real intention was to make Willow and her friends new target practice. With that goal in mind, she hoped that it would dissuade people like Willow for even dreaming of climbing up the social ladder set into place by the Boiling Isles. And yet, Willow was becoming even more liked by the students. To rub more salt on that wound, Boscha’s teammates had gone out of their way to compliment Luz and the others on their teamwork. 

It all started with Amity who, for a long-time passively encouraged Boscha to torment her former friend, suddenly changing her tune and actively opposing her. That by itself was on the three-eyed girl’s mind the longest: they both wanted to be the most powerful witches in the Isles ever since they were children, and yet Amity was now saying that she no longer had those aspirations? What preposterous nonsense undoubtably the result of that human girl’s influence. 

“What does that round-eared girl have that I don’t?” 

Boscha was so enraptured in her thoughts, she nearly failed to her a knock on her door. It was a soft pitter patter one that was nigh-untraceable. Boscha rolled her three eyes in annoyance. 

“D-dear,” the voice began, “you’re almost going to be late for school.” 

The door slowly droned itself open enough for Boscha to see who it was. It was a woman with the same hair and set of eyes that she had. She was a notably timid woman who appeared to realize at the last minute that disturbing her daughter would be similar to trying to awaken a sleeping lion if not worse. 

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you loud and clear,” Boscha replied in a snarking fashion. 

“What’s the matter, dear?” her mother asked, “I thought you would be happy to have won that match yesterday with that human girl and her friends.” 

Before she could speak again, Boscha tossed one of her pillows at her. Her mother’s instincts kicked in and she slammed the door shut before the pillow could strike her. Boscha groaned in defeat before pulling herself off her bed. 

Willow, much like last time, was again being crowded by a flock of classmates. Much like Willow, there were a select few who were also in the plant coven. They all had flowerpots containing otherworldly plants. She was bringing the plants to life and those plants took on the visage of their owners. 

Skara and the rest of Amity’s clique were by their lockers waiting for Boscha to arrive. Skara casually browsed Penstagram for any hot subject to catch her eye. After looking for a few minutes, she waved her finger causing her purple scroll to disappear. 

“Where is that girl?” 

The other girls of the clique shrugged. They too turned their attention to their purple scrolls. Skara tapped her finger on her chin. Sure, she did recall that Boscha was pretty steamed when her victory proved to be fruitless, but it was, after all, a game. There was little reason for Boscha to be enraged at Willow or Luz for that matter. As she contemplated further, she saw Amity walking with Luz. Like always, she had one of her books plastered against her face. Her movements were more fidgety than usual as well; once she even carelessly walked into one of the lockers when she was around Luz. Skara rolled her eyes at the sad sight. 

“It’s so obvious.” 

One of the girls perked up. “What is?” 

“It’s pretty obvious that Amity is crushing hard on that human girl over there,” Skara said. She pointed her finger towards the two. 

“Well, she had been hanging around with Luz an awful lot lately,” the girl noted, “do you think that Luz will figure it out?” 

Luz and Amity finished their chat when they got closer to Willow. Willow was working on a Venus flytrap for a student with a large mouth full of teeth when she noticed her friends coming over. 

“Oh, hey, guys!” she said. 

Luz goes in for a hug and Willow reciprocated it. “So, you’ve been practicing on your magic, Willow?” 

Willow chuckles and rubs the back of her head. “I hadn’t completely mastered it yet; it only really lasts for about 24 seconds.” 

Luz smiled at her friend reassuringly. “Oh, don’t worry about that; I am just happy that you’re not being bullied anymore!” 

Willow shook her head in agreement. “You should thank Amity for that.” 

Amity yelped when Luz directed her glance at her. “I-It’s just me...keeping my promise.” 

Luz laughed at how bashful Amity was behaving. For some reason, Amity looked cute in her position, but she could not fathom why. Willow giggled lightly at her best friend’s ignorance. She was very well aware of how her childhood friend felt about the human girl, but it amused her to watch Amity have a mental breakdown over her crush. Call it being sadistic, but she nevertheless desired that she would confess. 

“Hey, Luz,” Willow started, “there’s something I need to tell you.” 

Luz was speaking to Amity again, but she turned back to listen to Willow. 

“Yes, Willow, what is-” 

The doors to the front of the school were kicked open alerting everyone. From the pure hatred radiating from her three eyes, everyone knew who it was that disturbed the peace. It was Boscha. Her hair was still in disrepair, but most alarmingly, her school uniform was improperly put on. Her hood was upside down and compressing her neck. The belt around her waist was missing; she even came to school without her shoes. 

“B-Boscha?” Skara said. 

She ran up to her out of concern. However, Boscha quickly swiped her hand away. Skara groaned and rubbed her sore hand. Before she could say anything else, Boscha darted towards Willow. 

“Willow!” Luz screamed. 

She tackled the three-eyed girl to the ground holding her in a headlock. Boscha yelped underneath Luz’s grasp but kicked repeatedly to loosen her grip. Luz looked up at Amity who was frozen in place out of shock. When her gaze met her crush’s, she blushed a deep red again, but she was able to knock herself out of it seeing that she needed to act quickly. 

“Abomination, shield!” she said. 

Her large, gelatinous abomination arose from the ground and lifted its massive arms to completely obscure Boscha from getting to Willow. Amity ran in from of the abomination and did the same gesture. She looked deep into Boscha’s beady little eyes disgusted at what she was trying to accomplish. 

“Boscha, what is the meaning of this?!” 

Boscha’s struggles subsided, but Luz still retained her hold on Boscha. Boscha’s eyes pierced into Willow like a pair of daggers. “It is all her fault,” she finally said after panting from the shortness of breath. 

“Willow’s fault?” Amity repeated “don’t be ridiculous; you are to blame for your own mistakes.” 

Boscha slammed her hands to the ground in defiance. “My fault? You are the one that ruined your social life by deciding to hang out with half-a-witch and that round-eared human who’s not letting me go!” 

Amity bent down. “That human has a name, and I think her ears are really cute!” 

Luz nodded with approval. “Yeah, what she said! Wait, what was that last part?” 

Amity fidgeted her fingers at the realization of what she allowed to slip out of her mouth. “I mean...gross..no, no, wait, that isn’t what I...” 

Boscha opened her mouth and bit down on Luz’s arm. Luz screeched for a split second unwittingly releasing Boscha from her grasp. Boscha resumed her rampage and went past Amity and prepared to pounce on Willow. Luz rubbed her arm to ease the pain enough so she could to make a charge for the three-eyed girl. “Willow!” 

Willow stood firmly frozen in place not knowing what to do. She looked over and heard a whistle. Looking over, she saw that it was the student with the Venus flytrap. Holding the pot in his hands, he tosses the plant at Willow. Willow saw what he had in mind and used her powers to conjure a large vine from the potted plant that wrapped around Boscha’s left leg. 

“Gah!” 

Boscha clasped the vine in an attempt of prying it from her leg to no avail. Before she knew it, Willow moved her hands propelling the vine to smash Boscha against the lockers. Boscha screamed in pain from the collision and dropped to the ground once the vine was sent back and retained its normal size. A crowd of students surrounded Boscha curious about what she was going to do. 

Boscha saw that the crowd was expecting her to react, so she started to struggle to get back onto her feet. However, a shot of pain pulsated up her leg making her keel over. She sucked in her breath and rolled over on her bottom. Tears were trickling down from the eye at the top of her forehead. She was wincing in an immeasurable wave of pain. 

“You...you half-a-witch broke my leg!!!” 

Willow backed up at the sudden shouting. “Bo-Boscha, I didn’t mean to...” 

Boscha bent her arms behind her back as far as they could go and pushes herself forward. With her leg broken, she had to balance herself on her right foot. Wobbling, she pointed her finger at her in an accusing fashion. “I don’t care about your excuses; I am going to kill you!!” 

She lunges again at Willow, but some larger force was firmly holding her arm back. She turned around to see the Abomination Teacher looking at her disapprovingly. His personal abomination was holding her arm in a slightly less-gentle fashion. 

“Boscha, please report to the principal’s office.” 

Boscha jolted. Report to the principal’s office? Her? Never once was she ever ordered to do that; namely because she always used her status as the star player in her favor. She could very much get away with anything her heart desired and she would never be held accountable for any of it. Boscha’s three eyes widened in astonishment. 

“But I am the star player of the Banshees for Titan’s sake! I never get in trouble with-” 

The Abomination Teacher was having none of it quietly ordering his abomination to carry the rebelling girl to the principal’s office. Boscha squirmed and beat at the monster but the abomination only tightened its grip in response. Boscha turned to look at her hated rival and pointed at her. 

“This isn’t over!” 

The halls became silent again so much so one could drop a pin. Willow ran over to Luz and helped her back to her feet. “Are you okay?” 

Luz shook her hand. “Yeah, yeah; she bit me real good there, but it was worth it to keep you safe.” 

Gus ran up as well. “You think that Boscha will keep her word?” 

“Psh,” Luz said rather in an underestimating tone. “What is the worse that she could do?” 

“That wretched half-a-witch and that human pet of hers!!” 

Boscha was leaving the school now having to wear a cast and propping herself on crutches. She couldn’t help but take note of the irony: she had injured Amity’s leg during her match in the Grudgby game, and now she also sustained an injury. She was walking through the woods alone not really concerned about where her direction would lead her, but it would at least help her blow off some steam. 

“How can Amity choose those losers over me? I have known her since we were both getting started...we both promised each other that we would be the most powerful witches on the Isles, and yet that glasses-wearing nerd stole my Amity away from me...” 

She threw one of her crutches down in blind fury. It slid a good length away from her that she almost fell over due to her inability to maintain her balance. “Oh, great.” 

“My, are you rather clumsy, my dear?” 

Boscha tensed up. She rapidly scanned her surroundings for the source of that voice. “Who said that?” 

From the corner of her eye, she saw something manifest from behind a tree. She rubbed her eyes doubting what she was seeing. It was a hunched man slowly trekking his way towards her. Boscha grabbed her crutch and held it out defensively. 

“Stan-stand back, I’m warning you, old man!” 

The hunched man stopped in his tracks, but he was close enough for Boscha to make out what she was seeing. He had long, curled horns protruding from his head. He was a walking mass of darkness blacker than night, and yet his eyes glowed a dim orange. He had a grey, spindly beard reaching down towards what should be his feet, but instead of seeing the five digits of his toes, he had hooves. The hooves of a goat. That would very well explain his strange walking that was not like a pitter patter but more of a galloping. On his head was a top hat accompanied with ancient scraps of what used to be a robe. He smiled at Boscha presumably to ease her tensions, but instead it was an artificial smile that only further disturbed her. 

“Listen, freak, whatever you have to offer me, I do not want,” Boscha said. 

The goat man placed a hand on his chest. “Oh, you pained me, young lady.” He said it in a way that was blatantly over-acting at its most sarcastic. “All of you people on the Isles are simply ungrateful for the gifts I have bestowed on you.” 

“Gifts? What are you blabbering about?” 

The goat man smirked again. “Ah, I see; things have changed quite a bit since the last time I have reigned over this land; forgive me for being an old man and reminiscing on how your history books likely smeared me out of your history.” 

Boscha didn’t know what to think on what he had just said. “Are you saying that you know Belos personally?” 

The long-bearded man laughed once more. “So that’s what his name is; but no, my child, I have lived long, long before you were even conceived. Even before the world as you know it was formed; everything you have thought you have experienced, I have seen it and felt it all for eons.” 

Boscha was slowly inching herself away from the creepy, raving man. “Well, I have to get going now...” 

The tone in the man’s voice changed its tone. “You are upset that you are not getting what you think you deserve I assume?” 

Boscha stopped in her tracks and her ears peaked up. “I’m listening.” 

The goat man was now in front of her and despite hunching over, something indicated to the three-eyed girl that this wasn’t his true height. He felt more massive and cosmic in ways her primitive mind could never hope to understand. He grinned again revealing that he had rotting yellow teeth with nightcrawlers burrowing inside them. They plopped on the ground every time he spoke. His breath was also ungodly. It smelled of rotten eggs and a hint of sulfur. 

“You were the leader of a ball team, but you feel second-rate to someone who is lower than you in the order of things.” He extended his skeletal arm towards Boscha and pat her shoulder in assuring fashion. “But fret not, for I can help you learn your true potential.” 

Boscha squinted her eyes together in disgust from feeling the strange man’s hand rub her shoulder. She quickly smacked his hand away. “You will help me?” 

“Yes, of course; I have helped the Boiling Isles a thousand years ago back when the first witches had no clue what magic even was before I showed them the way. I will assist you...but you would have to do something for me as well.” 

Boscha thought deeply on it. If she were to allow this man she just met to help her, she could easily have her revenge on all those who wronged her. But she also was hardly what one could register as stupid seeing that the goat man was undeniably shady. 

“I don’t know...I feel like this is wrong...” 

The bearded man tilted his head in amusement. “I could tear out your conscious mind and fling it into the furthest depths of space towards the center of Ultimate Chaos itself. As much as I would love to reveal one of my thousands of forms to you and drive you to mind-numbing madness, I earnestly need your assistance in accomplishing my goal. Think of this as a mutual partnership.” 

More pressure was tossed in Boscha’s direction. She was now more than convinced that the man she is talking to is criminally insane and if she tried to make a run for it now, he could maul her to death with those large ram horns of his. Her mind thought back to what brought her to that point: Willow. It was always Willow. That girl that she relentlessly tormented for years and never once felt intimidated by, but ever since she was slowly breaking out of her shell, she could may as well be even better than she is at being a witch. And then she would be hurled towards the bottom, lower than the worms or any other spineless creature. 

The man spoke again breaking her concentration. “Tick, tock, Boscha. Tick, tock.” 

Boscha clenched her fists in dejection. “Titan, please give me strength.” 

Boscha extended her hand towards the goat man. “I accept the deal.” 

The goat man grinned and grabbed ahold of Boscha’s finger. This rejuvenated immense concern from her. 

“Buddy, what are you doing?” 

He withdrew an ancient book wrapped tightly in an alien texture. “I need you to sign your name in this book.” 

He opened the book before her seeing that a slot was vacant for her name. He withdrew a pen fashioned from bone and placed it in Boscha’s other hand. On the tip of the pen was a thin scrap of the same bone material. 

“So, how do I?” 

“You need to write with your blood,” the goat man clarified. 

Boscha’s eyes lit up. “What? No, no, I am not doing that.” 

“But, my dear, think of what you are saying; if you refuse my offer, you will return to being second-rate.” He held out his hand and rubbed Boscha’s head. “You know that you deserve better, do you not?” 

Boscha nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes, I do deserve the best, don’t I?” 

With no further reservations, Boscha pricked her finger on the sharpened end of the bone and applied her finger on the page of the ancient book. The page became wet with the three-eyed witch’s blood. The man watched patiently until she finished signing her signature and he held out a finger and waved it making the book disappear before her eyes. 

“Excellent work, Boscha, the contract has been divined. Now, let us begin.”


	3. How They Met (Pt. I)

It was shortly after Boscha’s expulsion from Hexside that things relatively returned to normal if there was ever such a thing considering it was the Boiling Isles. Luz and her friends were in the library in Amity’s personal section. 

“Are you totally sure that you are fine, Willow?” Luz asked. 

“Of course. Just still kind of jolted from how mad Boscha was; it’s like she was being serious with her threat.” 

Amity tapped her fingers in thought unsure of what to say next. While Willow did insist that she was doing fine, she could detect a small trace of fear from the tone of her voice. If push came to shove, she would have to track Boscha down to confront her about her behavior. 

“Something still doesn’t rub me the right way,” Gus announced. 

“Yes, Gus?” Luz said. 

“What was that with that whole my Amity thing?” 

They scratched their heads and turned their attention to Amity. Amity was still weighing her options, but she could sense that she was being watched. She slowly looked up from her seat. She had a frown plastered on her face. 

“Oh, that,” she said, “I didn’t hear her say that.” 

The group unanimously rolled their eyes clearly not buying what she insisted. Amity sighed heavily in defeat. “Well, remember how my parents told me to end my friendship with Willow?” 

Willow and Luz frowned from the displeasure of the thought. Amity noticed this and tilted her head. It was apparent that this would be an unfavorable discussion and she secretly wished that they would talk her out of further elaborating. When she saw that they did not back down, she continued. 

“Boscha was to be one of my friends as recommended by my parents. Boscha...was the absolute worst.” 

“But Boscha is mean,” Amity whined to her parents. It was a recurrent complaint that they had heard. She had said the same thing over and over until they eventually mentally memorized it. 

“Remember Amity,” Odalia said, her voice stern, “if you do not comply, we will have it arranged that your friend’s chances at attending Hexside are slim to none.” 

Amity gritted her teeth. She hated how she had no power over her parents and always succumbed to carrying out their will as twisted as it was. She was escorted out of her home and rode with her parents. 

Boscha’s house was deep within the town of Bonesborough where the mountains surrounding it were made from large bone structures. Amity did sometimes travel into the square of the town, and was never intimidated by the sights of the medieval architectures. But now, she felt her throat close up. 

Much like the other residents of the town, Boscha’s house was situated alongside the two, gargantuan arms decorating the already macabre town. It was towards the bottom base of the arms. Amity and her parents stepped out and stood in front of the house. Boscha’s house was made of a combination of wood and stone. The most striking figure of the house, however, was its architecture. Multitudes of eyes of varying sizes were scattered throughout every orifice. Amity looked up at her parents again, but they were indifferent with the design of the house. 

“Well, here we are,” Odalia announced. 

Amity took a few more passing glances at the house. She looked at her parents with begging eyes hoping that it would elicit whatever emotion that was buried down within them. Before she could say anything else, her father was already at the door. On the door’s frame was a small, wrinkled hand holding the hinge within its grasp. He lifted it and struck it against the plate. 

Klunk. Klunk. Klunk. 

A monotonous tone rung out and echoed through the walls of the house. The Blight parents stood there propped against the door with Amity a short distance from them. After waiting a minute, they heard a rustling in the house. 

“Titan give me strength,” droned a voice. 

The door swung open nearly knocking Amity’s father out. They were met by a three-eyed woman with bags under her eyes. Her hair was in a disarray and disheveled. She grumbled to herself, some of her words clearly being inappropriate to the young Amity’s ears, but were roughly inaudible. In her hand, she held a mug of apple blood which she took a deep swig of. 

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance again,” Odalia smiled. She held out her hand to the mother of the three-eyed girl. The mother rubbed her bottom eyes and shook Odalia’s hand. 

“I take it that you brought your daughter here for the arranged playdate?” 

Odalia nodded. “Yes; I am hoping that your daughter takes my sweet Amity under her wing and teach her the ropes.” 

“Oh, right, right. I can assure you that she can do so.” 

“Where is she anyway?” Amity’s father asked. 

“In her room like a good girl; feel free to escort Amity.” 

He did as he was told holding onto Amity’s hand and made his way to the stairs. Amity, ever so defiant, pressed her feet down as hard as they could go. She wiggled her wrist in rapid succession hoping that would be the final nail in her father’s coffin. But he was undeterred and waited for his daughter to tire herself out. Amity’s strength weakened, and with no other option lest she furthered her father’s wrath, Amity gave in and accompanied her father up the stairs. 

They neared the last step towards the three-eyed girl’s room and stopped there. Thoughts of breaking away at the last minute while her father was distracted filled her mind but she knew it would be foolish to test her father like that. 

“Father, please don’t make me do this.” 

He sighed. “Believe me, dear, I would rather you continue to play with that other girl, but I have too much on my plate to deal with.” 

This perked his daughter’s ears. “But, but why?” 

“I have nothing but disgust for the way that her father is so...unapproachable, but he is a business partner all the same.” He rubbed his eyes before speaking again. “Besides, your mother would probably incinerate me if I said no to her.” 

Amity frowned in disgust at how spineless her father was when it came with pleasing his wife, but she saw that she was thoroughly defeated. Amity nodded in an understanding fashion and knocked on the door. She waited for a few seconds before knocking again. 

“GAH!! Mom, I told you to buzz off!” a shrill voice yelled. 

Amity backed away from the door. The door opened revealing what seemed at first to be a miniature sized replica of the three-eyed woman who opened the door for them. She wore a black shirt and pants that had the illusion of sloppily being put on presumably at the last minute. Messy wads of black polish were on her fingers. She was likely improperly trying to paint her nails as well but was less than adequate with it. 

“Oh, you’re that Blight kid my mom had been talking about.” 

Amity nodded awkwardly to confirm her suspicions. Her room was a total mess: clothes in large mounds on the floor making it less walkable; food was littered and potentially became sentient, thinking beings. From what little she could make out; Amity could see a purple scroll on Boscha’s bed. She stared at it a bit before speaking again. 

“So...you use Penstragram?” 

Boscha scoffed. “Yeah, and what of it?” 

“Well, I was contemplating on getting one myself.” 

Boscha crossed her arms. “And why are you telling me this?” 

Amity shrugged. “I...I guess because you could teach me how to use it? Maybe?” 

Boscha sighed whilst relaxing her arms. “Oh, Titan, you are pathetic, aren’t you?” 

Amity looked down dejected. Boscha had all three of her eyes closed, but she opened the one that was close to her forehead. “I guess I can teach you.” 

Amity nodded again. She wasn’t really looking for any assistance, nor was she seriously contemplating on getting a Penstagram account, but at the least she did get the boulder moving. Boscha knelt down and pulled something from underneath it. 

“Boscha, what is tha-” 

She nearly fell on her words when she saw Boscha slip a small plush toy. It had spikes wedged deeply into it, some were sticking from the sides. Amity was unable to make out what the toy was supposed to be because from the looks of it, Boscha had stabbed it into an unrecognizable mess. Boscha looked at her in curiosity. 

“What? I do this to relieve stress.” 

Amity gulped loudly. A nervous smile spread across her face.


	4. A History Lesson

Boscha sat on a log facing a bonfire. In her hands, she was holding a stick that had an impaled rodent-like creature on it. She held it over the fire and casually twirled it around to completely roast it. It was a short, snaggle-toothed creature resembling an Earth rat, but instead of the long, furless tail, it had a lizard tail. Boscha took a bite out of the beast and recoiled at its apparent bad taste. 

“Bleh!” 

Beside her on another log sat the goat man. He held several juice boxes within his mighty hands. He greedily ripped open the boxes and lapped the contents from within, unaware that the juice was collecting on the ends of his lips. There were roughly twenty boxes he was consuming and pitching aside without care. 

“I had never tried any sort of sweet nectar such as this.” He tossed another juice box on the ground and went for another. “What do you call this concoction, Boscha?” 

Boscha shrugged. “Apple blood; but I never tried it.” 

The goat man grinned exposing his yellow, rotting teeth. “I wish your people would’ve imprisoned me after I had a chance to try this luxury.” 

Boscha stared down at the fire again not saying a word. The goat man finished up on drinking the apple blood juice boxes and tilted his head. He scanned Boscha over somehow knowing preemptively what she was about to say, but he decided to watch the embers of the fire as well. 

“If you need to inquire something of me, by all means, please do so,” he said. 

Boscha raised her head up so her three eyes could lock onto the goat man’s. “Who are you?” 

“I have already explained it to you, my dear,” he replied, “just an old man who once ruled over this world before being locked away and my name stricken from the records. The usual.” 

“Yes, I know that is what you said, but I just think that if this partnership is going to work, we should know everything about each other.” 

Boscha slammed her mouth shut upon seeing the goat man’s glare become illuminated by the fire within them. She was certain that she had spoken out of turn and was now going to face his wrath. He chuckled in a low mumble amused. 

“I now understand how grandparents must feel whenever their grandchildren egg them on about telling them stories from their pasts.” 

He took the juice boxes and pitched them into the bonfire. It blazed with the new fuel it was given. 

“It may take me a while to fully explain everything to you out of my concern that your mortal mind may not understand them, but strap in for the ride.” 

A village lied in ruins having been scorched with a fire that was akin to seven suns. The identity of the civilization, with a large population in the thousands, was unknown forever lost to the history of the Isles. Almost as if overnight, the village was attacked and laid to waste with no survivors. Due to its condition, no other civilization migrated to the lifeless area and remained that way for the next millennium. 

A hooded figure arrived sometime in the early morning to the former village and began to trek through the ruins. Houses that were made of stone were one of the few pieces of architecture left of the village; the walls of the houses were smothered by the thick smoke and blackened beyond repair. Alongside the walls of the foundations, there were the slight hints of the outlines undoubtably a grim reminder of those villagers who were outside of their homes before their civilization was set ablaze. 

Deeper the mysterious stranger went through the village, more of the cataclysm became apparent: the square of the village was mostly made of wood and as a result, several of the buildings and commerce grounds were reduced to ashes with any scrap of wood that somehow managed to survive barely holding on due to the beams holding them up crumbling. As the stranger was walking, they heard a crunch sound echoing. Looking down, they saw that they had stepped on a skull and it shattered underneath their weight. 

Piles of skeletons were tossed in large mounds. From the embers of the village, the skeletons were as dark as tar. From what the stranger could tell, they likely died from looks of horror on their faces. The mounds led the stranger towards one site that appeared seemingly untouched by the flames. 

A crude temple was at the center of the ruins, one resembling the pyramids from Ancient Egypt. The stranger tilted their head at seeing the alien geometries. Despite of the unsightly condition the overall village was in, there was no denying that the temple was almost all-inspiring. But despite that beauty, an otherworldly evil radiated from it. The stranger clenched their fists together in anticipation of whatever was inside and steadied their breathing. 

Murals of the dark god decorated the windows detailing how he had arrived to the demon realm. Macabre displays of sacrifices also accompanied the illustrations. Children and families were set aside to be sacrifices for their god and in turn, they were bestowed with great blessings not just in the magical sense. After soaking in their surroundings, the stranger walked deeper into the temple. Before them stood a large door with unreadable inscriptions. Traversing that, the mysterious stranger came upon the throne room. A small altar decorated in an ancient language was situated in front of a large throne. 

“Oh, it is a pleasure to see a worshiper of mine pay a visit.” 

The stranger looked up beholding the large frame of a dark figure wearing a headpiece of different materials. It was dressed in shadows and was nearly invisible to the naked eye if it weren’t for the figure leaning forward and revealing its endless rows of sharp, carnivorous teeth. The stranger squinted a few times upon seeing something moving from the corner of his eye. They were at the mighty legs of the demonic entity. Without much probing, they slowly walked out of the darkness making it apparent that they were a few of the dark god’s personal servants. 

“So, have you come to pay tribute to me?” the being asked, “if not, your home will be forfeited.” 

The stranger shook his head. “No, Nyarlathotep, I have come to stop you.” 

The walls of the temple shook violently to their foundation when Nyarlathotep let a darkly chuckle escape from the pit of his stomach. “Many of you have tried and failed.” He leaned in closer. His teeth, being ever so massive and varying in shape and size, prevented him from completely shutting his mouth. “What can you possibly do?” 

The stranger took his finger and drew a circle in the air. From that circle erupted a bright light. The light hurt Nyarlathotep and momentarily stunned him. Purple blood trickled down his temple. He chuckled again. A sizzling, bubbling mass of darkness covered the wound, healing him. 

“I love your spirit, kid, but I guess you’ve forced my hand.” 

Nyarlathotep stood up from his throne and towered over the mysterious stranger. At his full size, he stood at a stunning 9 ft. He placed his hands together and slammed them together. The stranger noticed a gem placed in the middle of Nyarlathotep’s headpiece and was shining a crimson red. A vibrant beam shot out of the gem and collided with the ground ripping it apart and forming a widening crack. Fire rose up to consume the stranger, but they managed to dodge just in time. 

The dark god grimaced at it and clutched his fist drawing a chunk of the ceiling and flinging it towards the stranger. The stranger quickly drew another circle in the air and summoned a large slum of ice that ricocheted towards the ceiling chunk. An explosion of ceiling and ice rained down on the two fighters. There came a shrill scream that momentarily caught the stranger off guard. Seeing that the servants of Nyarlathotep were about to be crushed by the falling debris, the stranger quickly conjured up a shield to cover them. 

Smack. 

The stranger groaned in pain from the sharp pain. Nyarlathotep had taken the opportunity to send them flying across the temple. They took their head into their hands to balance the pain before sluggishly dragging themselves off the ground. Nyarlathotep held his hands together preparing another strike. 

“Had enough?” 

The stranger got on their feet. “Not yet.” 

Amused, Nyarlathotep withdrew fire from himself and crafted it into a projectile. Despite his seeming lack of eyes, he tosses the projectile towards his opponent. Before it could strike him, the stranger created a mirror that caught the projectile. 

“What is this?” Nyarlathotep replied in shock. 

The projectile was cast back towards its dark creator and it stabbed him through his torso. Nyarlathotep collapsed on his colossal knees once again shaking the foundation of the temple. Purple blood was now leaking through the hole made in his body. Nyarlathotep coughed up more of the bizarre alien blood and gritted his teeth. 

“I have to admit that was a pretty brilliant move, but I won’t let this injustice stop me!” 

Nyarlathotep’s wound was once again beginning to close, but it would prove to be a mistake on his end. The stranger drew a ball of light and tossed it at the dark god. Nyarlathotep was hit with it. He screamed once more. This magic, which he withdrew out of himself, was now being used against him and was now injuring him. More and more. Wounds were accumulating on Nyarlathotep’s eldritch body and he was unable to quickly heal. 

Nyarlathotep shifted his physical form constantly reverting from his Black Pharaoh form to other monstrous shapes. Regardless of any move he made, the stranger would return it to him tenfold. Purple blood was now pooling onto the floor. No time in his endless life did he ever have any problem with a mere mortal as he could easily topple entire civilizations without as much of a thought; drive people to madness for a laugh even. But now, he was feeling exhausted. An odd mortal feeling? 

He resumed his Black Pharaoh form and weakly got back on his feet. He felt rather drained, but nevertheless wanted to move forward. As he raised his hand, he felt his legs tense up. Looking down, his mouth widened in surprise. The stranger was conjuring up a glass substance that was overtaking his legs and replacing his organic parts with inorganic matter. He tried to shift himself to break the glass to no avail. The glass was now reaching up towards his pelvis ensuring that he was frozen in place. 

Nyarlathotep turned to glare at his servants. “Well, what are you waiting for? Rescue your god!” 

The servants looked at each other for a few moments seriously contemplating what they should do. They then looked at the stranger. Running over, they assisted the stranger with creating the glass. 

Nyarlathotep, shocked at first, chuckled. “Well, this was a fun game; the best I had in thousands of years even!” 

The glass was now around Nyarlathotep’s neck. His grin became wider and more devious than it was initially. He laughed again. 

“What are you laughing about, creature?” the stranger said, “this is the end.” 

“Oh, it may be for now, but I assure you that this isn’t over.” The glass was covering his mouth. “Even if it takes an eternity, I will be back; but there will be someone to represent me.” 

With that, Nyarlathotep was completely encased in glass. The stranger sighed and rest their hands. “It is over.” 

One of the servants started to speak up, a blonde –haired girl with ragged clothing. “I can’t say that is definite.” 

“For what reason?” the stranger asked. 

“I could’ve sworn I had seen some dark substance collect from the back of Nyarlathotep’s head and then disappear.” 

The stranger scratched their chin. “Then I shall write down what I want any future descendants to read just in case he does return.” 

The fire started to die down after Boscha finished up eating the weird rodent creature. The goat man sat solemnly watching the fire dwindle. 

“So, how did you escape?” Boscha finally asked. 

The goat man, now wanting to be named Nyarlathotep once more, chuckled. “I sensed that there was a weakness within the glass prison that they had designed for me; I just had to nibble my way through it until I was able to regain some of my lost power.” 

“What is so significant about what that stranger wrote?” 

“Ah, you see, it was done using methods that the original inhabitants of the Boiling Isles first learned magic; before needing to draw meaningless circles in thin air. But I sense that this form of magic is no longer practiced by any witches here?” 

Boscha scratched her head. She did remember that someone was able to perform magic by drawing symbols and then pressing them. That kind of magic was bizarre even for the Isles due to it being done without the using having a magical organ to draw it from. As her mind weighed through her options, an idea struck. 

“Round ears!” she exclaimed. 

Nyarlathotep leaned back. “For goodness’ sake, you startled me.” He chuckled. “Just kidding; it is that Noceda girl you are alluding to?” 

Boscha nods. “Yeah, if we get her to decipher those spells you mentioned, then you can get your power back.” 

Nyarlathotep pat her back. “I knew that I could count on you.” He sat back on the other log. “But we should lie low. I need to gather as much strength as I can; haven’t you any idea?” 

Boscha smirked. “Well, there is a special tree that I know about.” 

Nyarlathotep raised his eyebrow in piqued interest. “Do tell.” 

Shortly after the mysterious stranger had vanquished the now imprisoned Nyarlathotep, like the blonde-woman mentioned, a dark mass that escaped from its fate hovered over the ruins of the temple and uttered a lone hum likely from communicating with its master. Forming a hard outer shell, it fell back on the Isles and burrowed itself deeply into the ground and incubated itself. 

And it would remain that way until years later when another event rocked the Boiling Isles. When the witches and demons indulged in savage acts of wild magic, the Boiling Isles was on the brink of disarray if not for the sudden arrival of a “savior.”


	5. How They Met (Pt. II)

“But Mom, I don’t want to go to school!” Boscha whined.

Her mother smiled warmly at her and pat her head. “Come now, Boscha, it won’t be that bad.”

Boscha looked down at the ground with her three eyes. “But what if they find out that my father was a jinn?”

Her mother frowned at this. “It has been quite a long time since we have last seen your father.” She knelt down at her daughter’s height. “He won’t hurt either of us anymore.”

Boscha looked at the school before her: Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Her mother had to break a few eggs in order for her daughter to attend the school, but to her, it was worth it. Boscha wore the attire appropriate for the school: a gray tunic accompanied with a darker shade for her cowl and belt. When Boscha was a young girl, she had more trouble with seeing, so she was forced to wear glasses that were modified to accommodate for her three eyes. Her light pink skin was riddled with purplish-red bumps.

“That reminds me, I have to get into contact with the local healer about a remedy for your rash,” Boscha’s mother announced. “Be a good girl.”

Boscha stared at the entrance of the witch school contemplating whether she should make a break for it. But even then, she heard all the stories about what happened to students who broke the rules or were sent to detention. She grimaced at this and held her book bag firmly between her arms. With a deep breath, Boscha swallowed her pride and went to open the door.

Students of varying shapes and sizes were gathered in the halls carelessly chatting with each other. Boscha continued to walk down the halls of the school observing the students going about their days. Boscha struggled to say something to one of the students, but a gagged sound rustled from her throat. With her throat feeling tight, the three-eyed girl decided to forget about trying to interact and searched for her locker. This offered a new obstacle for the young girl: several of the students were so close together, it made getting access to her locker all the more difficult.

“E-excuse me, please,” Boscha whistled out through her pressed teeth. Her fragile arms pushed against the larger frames of the students as she tried to inch herself through the wave. Some of the students turned to look at her, but they ignored her struggles and resumed their conversation. Boscha continued to push and shove until she was completely engulfed. She was alone swimming in a sea of conformity. But she had achieved her mission of achieving her promised land: she could see her locker from the corner of her eye and readied herself. She leapt out of the compressed crowd and arrived at her locker.

“Finally made it.”

She ran towards her locker, overjoyed that she found it. But when she opened the door, it flung open and hit something hard. Boscha heard a thud on the ground and froze there. On the opposite side of the door was another girl. The girl had snakes wiggling from her head. Often the snakes would wriggle themselves together in knots or strike at each other for dominion. She also wore the school uniform according to its dress code, but she wore purple pants that sparkled. Her expression was one of irritation not helped by her emerald green, judgmental eyes. Boscha’s eyes widened as she realized that she caused the snake-haired girl’s books to fall on the floor meaning that she had accidentally struck her when the door whipped open.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” the snake-haired girl said in a loud voice of annoyance.

Boscha stammered and tapped her fingers together. “I-I....”

The girl crossed her arms together. “I...I...I? You can’t even speak?” she laughed to herself. She turned and looked in the direction of three other girls one having brown locks; another resembling a cactus; and a dark blue skin tone. They too were laughing at the apparent joke the snake-haired girl made. She must’ve been the popular girl on the block Boscha thought.

Boscha tried to get up, but the snake-haired girl firmly glued her to the ground with her hands. “You made me drop my stuff and now you’re going to run away?”

“Well, I...” Boscha said again.

Boscha’s mind was shutting down. This was the first time that she was being interrogated like this. Her mind was in a deluge of thoughts when the girl grabbed her glasses and held them over her head. Boscha’s eyes were harassed by the bright light causing her to squint up.

“Please, give them back.”

The girl chuckled. “Oh? You want them back, do you?”

Boscha grinned even though she couldn’t tell what she was looking at. She held out her hand like a beggar and waited for her precious glasses to be placed in her hand. The girl laughed again at the three-eyed girl’s utter cluelessness.

“Then use your magic to get it back!”

Boscha, standing stunned, tried to retrieve the pair of glasses from the bully but she was unable to cup around for them. She pressed her hand along the sides of the lockers only to feel wetness washing over her hands. Boscha gagged and thrusts her hand away from the gaping mouth of one of the lockers. Another laugh rang through the halls.

“This is pathetic, even for you,” the ring girl said. From the sound of the tine if her voice, she seemed to believe that Boscha would put more effort into acquiring her glasses.

Tears started to roll down Boscha’s face. “I can do it, just give me.”

Boscha took her finger and twirled it to create a circle. The lead girl felt the glasses move from her grasp and slightly let them go. The glasses hovered in the air for a while but it wasn’t as though Boscha could tell due to her poor vision. She squinted her eyes shut so that only a small ray of light could get into them. But squinting always caused her head to hurt. Her head throbbed from the strain of her eyes and without warning, the spell she placed on her glasses ceased and they fell on the ground.

“Oh no, was that my glasses!?” Boscha shouted.

She began to dart for them, but she fell over and onto her face. The students laughed again in unison. The blue-skinned girl retracted her leg at the demand of her superior. The glasses were an inch away from Boscha. More tears leaked from her eyes, but they stung from the burning sensation. She probed at the ground a few times being so close to the glasses but still so far.

Crunch.

Startled, Boscha wormed her way towards the sound and once more tapped her fingers along the floor. She felt her fingers penetrate a shard of glass. “OW!”

When she was none the wiser, another student casually walked over the glasses and crushed them underneath their weight. Boscha placed her bloodied fingers into her mouth to stop the bleeding taking note of the iron in her blood.

“Wow, you suck at magic,” the snake-haired girl noted.

Boscha shook her head. “I...I can do it, it just takes me some time.”

“Hexside doesn’t need any more weak witches like you,” the girl said again, “but I am amused; I’ll probably play with you for a good while until I get bored.”

The girl laughed and walked away with her clique of friends. Boscha grabbed a side of a locker and pushed herself back on her feet. The other students idly gave her passing glances. She would arrive to class, but due to her circumstances, she would be late.


	6. Execution

“Bring in the accused,” a voice called out. 

Within the Emperor’s castle was the beating heart of the Titan. The ruler of the Boiling Isles, Emperor Belos, sat on his throne with his hand planted between the palms of his hands. His breathing was in few, quick successions; he forced the air out of his longs in a sharp exhale. 

Three men were taken into the throne room in chains. Their feet shuffled under the weight of the shackles. On their fingers were multiple tiny locks to prevent them from accessing the magic in their bile sacs. They each wore a black cloak that concealed most of their bodies aside from their hands and legs. Imperial guards from the Conformatorium tossed the men down before the throne of Belos. 

“My lord,” one of the guards spoke up, “we have captured the traitors as you had advised us.” 

Emperor Belos held his hand up in response, but he did not turn his attention towards the guard just yet. “Please, give me a minute to compose myself.” 

As if on cue, a servant ran into the room carrying a small pillow. On it was a palisman fashioned in the shape of a ram. With his gloved finger, he stabbed a slit in the palisman’s side much like how a nut is opened with a nutcracker. Green liquid seeped from the palisman onto Belos’ fingers. Without much thought, Belos lifted the broken palisman in front of his face and allowed the green substance to sprinkle down into his eyes like rain. His eyes glowed momentarily before returning back to the bluish pupils hidden behind the black sockets of his mask. 

“Ah, that’s better.” 

Disgust manifested on the prisoners’ faces with one on the urge of retching from seeing the emperor consume the substance. Their cheeks were filling up and turning a sickly green. After Belos finished with the hollow shell of the palisman, he placed it back on the pillow and tilted his head signaling the servant to leave him and the guards alone with the prisoners. 

“To what am I giving the displeasure to?” Belos asked. 

“My liege, these men have been caught trying to instigate rebellion against the government in the western and northern regions of the Boiling Isles,” the head imperial guard announced. 

Ah, yes; rebellion. There was hardly any mumbling of revolt against the system not in the fifty years Belos was in power. Belos could remember that day just well: his plan of having the Owl Lady petrified in a public display to dissuade any other inclinations of disavowing the system was thwarted because of that human girl. Worse, two kids led the crowd to fight for her freedom. At the least, he still did have some dominion over the children of the Isles as he claimed that the Titan informed him that the Owl Lady would forever suffer from her curse. 

Belos grabbed ahold of his staff and pushed himself up. “Rebelling? Pray tell; why would you commit such high treason?” 

The head of the prisoners, a one-eyed demon spoke up. “We have had enough of your tyranny.” 

Belos lifted his staff and tapped the ringleader’s shoulder. “Such a shame to see that your mind had been poisoned by nonsensical ravings of conspirators.” 

The man pushed the staff aside. “You claim that you are doing this for the people’s interests, but you are deliberately denying witches and demons their individuality and forcing them to condone to your design!” 

Belos stood silently for a second. The guards gave passing glances towards each other. The ringleader also looked at his co-conspirators with equal confusion. The words stabbed into Belos like sharp knives. Belos sighed and turned away to return to his throne. 

“Is that truly how you feel?” 

The prisoners nodded. Belos rubbed the sides of his mask and shook his head. “The Titan has declared you three guilty of the highest treason against the Isles.” 

The guards tightened their grips on the accused and pried their feet from the ground. The co-conspirators began to thrash to squirm their way out of their holds and bindings, but the binds were made specifically to keep them from using their magic. The ringleader resisted long enough to scream at the top of his lungs. 

“You won’t get away with this!!” 

The door slammed behind Belos and he was left alone in his throne room with the steady pitter patter of the Titan’s heart. Thirty minutes later, the door lightly creaked open. “My lord?” 

Belos looked at the door seeing that a small, child-sized demon was behind the other side. “Ah, Kiki, please come in.” 

Kikimora walked in with a troubled look. Belos walked towards her. “The sentence isn’t going as according to plan?” 

Kikimora shook her head. “No, that isn’t it, my lord.” She cleared her throat before speaking again. “Are you certain that the human girl and the Owl Lady won’t try to do anything to stop your plan?” 

Emperor Belos chuckled. “I am allowing her to believe that she had won for the time being.” 

“Why sir?” 

“She is something of a seed. I will let her live in her own little bubble convinced that she saved the Isles from whatever plan I have devised. I will provide her with the appropriate nutrients every now and then until she blossoms. When the time is right, it will be all the more delectable to rip out the rug from underneath her and watch her face contort with despair when the Titan’s will is realized.” 

Kikimora nodded her head in an attempt to understand what her master was trying to say. “What of that traitor then?” 

Belos clasped his staff. “Sweet Lilith? Believe me, I can see that she is already suffering because of her betrayal; her name has become smeared and recoiled like with her sister. Besides, she is meaningless in the overall will of the Titan. The Day of Unity is almost at hand.” 

The three conspirators were placed into the cage in front of all the observant eyes of the children of the Isles. The citizens looked at the spectacle with fearful expressions. Word had quickly circulated around of the public sentence. The drum-line display went per usual with every passing minute keeping the conspirators on edge. 

The two co-conspirators tried to fight themselves out of their restraints yelling at the imperial guards for mercy for what was about to happen. The ringleader quietly clasped his hands together and muttered something lowly. The spell to the petrification machine was cast and it slowly droned itself to life in a groan. The laser roared in anticipation for its many uses. 

At the lever was Warden Wrath. He tentatively grasped the lever as if waiting for the signal. 

“Please, sir, have mercy on us!” one of the men, a pig-headed demon yelped, “we’re not with that one-eyed mongrel!” 

“Save your complaining,” Warden Wrath answered in his gruff voice. 

The man’s screaming continued on until they heard a door opening. Emperor Belos had finally arrived. He stood at the front of the balcony overseeing the people gathered below. He slammed his staff down. 

“Children of the Isles, it is by the Titan’s will that you observe the punishments bestowed to these traitors.” 

He raised his hand giving Warden Wrath the signal. He nodded and pulled the lever. A laser beam projected from the machine and entered the cage containing the prisoners. The co-conspirators began to panic more wildly. They fell on top of each other in their desperation of avoiding the beam. 

“This man claims to speak for the Titan’s will, but I call him a liar!” the one-eyed demon yelled at the top of his lungs. 

The laser beam struck the men’s feet and worked its way up their bodies. The agonizing pain surged through their bodies propelling them to collapse onto their knees. They tried to move only to realize that their skeletons had completely transformed to stone. On the inside of their bodies their blood was traded in for minerals. Gray bumps crystallized on the outside of their bodies. Next the magic was leaking into their organs and converting the organic matter into inorganic material. Gravel entered their lungs first in small chunks. 

They coughed and heaved from the oxygen quickly escaping from their lungs. Like how tar would accumulate along the person’s alveoli, the chunks of stone clumped together and shut the system down at a steady pace. The hairs in their nostrils soaked in the petrification and filled with more of the stone material. Their hearts filtered the rocky substance and struggled to pump blood through the bodies of the victims. 

The ringleader tried to say something else, but his throat was closing in on itself when his windpipe was transformed to stone. Any attempt at activating the magic in his bile sac was fruitless due to it being the first organ to go. And even if by chance the organ still functioned, there was no way he could draw a circle to make it function. Death has come to ease his suffering from what felt like an eternity of pain; the kind of pain you feel when your entire body is broken like an egg and then remodeled. With one final look, his eye glazed over and hardened.


	7. Dreams and Palismans

Fire rained down from the sky onto a small village engulfing all in its path. Smoke filled the sky, obscuring the sun and smothering the light. Houses of wood were incinerated by fireballs. Screams of terror surged through the broken remnants of the village. 

"Hush, now, please,” a woman said. She had her child wrapped tightly in her arms whilst simultaneously trying to silence the howls coming from him. She ran over the burning ashes of what used to be her village for what seemed like hours. Screams of bloody murder and misery came from afar, but she could not cease her escape now lest her child be in danger. 

“Please, help!” 

She stopped and scanned the area. Sensing that it came from an eastern region, the mother turned around and sprinted. A house was leveled and torn into pieces with fire dancing in every direction. She could see two small figures standing by what used to be a part of one of the beams of the house. When she ran closer to them, she could make out that they were a brother and sister. They crouched down in front of the debris. The daughter, the youngest, looked up at the mother with a worried expression. 

“Our mother is stuck under there.” 

A medium-sized woman was wedged between the ground and the ceiling. Flames tickled around her; each lick of one of the flames wrought a moan of pain from her. She saw the mother and gave a weak smile. 

“My legs are broken,” she explained, “please take my children and run away from this place.” 

“No, Mom, we’re going to save you!” the brother spoke up. He grasped some piece of the ceiling and chunked it over his shoulder. The flames were beginning to spread. His mother pushed herself up for a few seconds giving the impression that she was doing her best to slide herself out. 

“There’s no time!” she rubbed one of her son’s tears away before speaking again. “You have to leave.” 

The two siblings looked at their mother and then towards the woman that they called over. While the young mother weighed her options, the ground shook. They all glared at the sky their hopes dashed. A winged beast with the semblance of a gigantic bat and as black as night hovered above them. Its three-lobed, singular eye throbbed. The young mother, breaking from the awe she felt, quickly collected her son and resumed her running. The two kids glanced over horrified. 

“Wait, don’t leave us!” 

She did not turn back not until the sounds of the family’s screaming became a memory. In her heart, she knew that she had some accountability to the fate that befell on the family, but she panicked when that thing arrived. She had to keep her child safe no matter the cost. Her legs grew tired by the second and yet, her child was still crying without halt. The tendons in the mother’s ankles were tiring themselves out. There came the sound of a rushing wind. The mother’s legs killed her, but she attempted to run again. 

The bat monster was on the horizon again narrowing her down. The beast’s eye glared again, shooting fire towards the mother. With little thought, she tossed her child aside and was engulfed in the fire. The baby’s crying became louder likely realizing what happened to his mother. He looked up and saw a smoky vapor flowing towards him. 

“Well, what have we here?” the voice said. 

A small, green orb began to crystallize in front of the young child. 

“GAH!” 

King jolted himself awake sweat rolling down his head in thick beads. Luz looked up from her mat, concerned. “King? What is it?” 

King’s panting slacked down in his attempt to compose himself. “Uh, yeah, Luz; I’m okay.” 

“Are you sure?” Luz asked, probing further, “sounded like you were having a nightmare.” 

King shook his head. “Luz, Luz, I am fine; don’t think about it!” 

Before Luz could say anything else, the living tube-bird known only as Hooty barged in. 

“Hoot! Hoot! Want to know my worst nightmare?” 

“No, no one wants that!” King said annoyed. 

"As the people of the Isles knows, three traitors were taken before our lord, Emperor Belos, the other day and were found guilty of the highest treason for trying to sow the seeds of rebellion against our way of life. The three were petrified towards the midday.” 

The residents of the Owl House quietly listened to the announcement over the news. Eda and King casually started eating their breakfast, but Luz could not eat. She felt her fists tense up. 

“What is it, kid?” Eda asked, taking note of it. 

“How can anyone allow Belos to do something like this?” she slammed her fists on the table. 

“Rule of the land, kid,” King responded. 

Luz slumped in her chair. “I guess so...but Belos should be stopped.” 

“That isn’t our concern now,” Eda clarified, “don’t even think of trying to face him again on your own.” 

Luz nodded once more and she began to eat her breakfast as quietly as she could muster. 

“Besides, we have bigger problems,” Eda said. 

Ever since she betrayed Emperor Belos and became a fugitive, Lilith, in a sense, broke down. The moment she entered the house, she collapsed on the couch and remained there for a solid two weeks. In that course of time, Lilith had accumulated a lot of powder dust from the chips and other junk food she was eating. She passively was browsing through Penstagram with little interest. Her clothes had begun to wreak in the meantime. Dark bags were under her eyes. 

“She’s...not taking her becoming a fugitive too well isn’t she?” Luz asked/ 

“Well, it’s better than the alternative,” Eda said. 

“What is the alternative?” 

“The Emperor could send someone to kill her in her sleep,” Eda snickered. 

Luz and King gave the Owl Lady a serious look. Eda quickly stopped laughing. “What? That’s true.” 

Luz walked into the room and stood by the couch. “Are you alright, Lilith?” 

“Luz, have you ever dedicated your entire life to a cause because of some shady man’s promise only to then realize that in all those years said person wasn’t going to honor their part of the deal and you’re likely now on the run from the government lest they take your head?” 

Luz tapped her chin. “I...I don’t think so.” 

Lilith sighs. “The point is I no longer have any significant purpose because I have been lied to for years; I hurt my young sister for a meaningless position because I thought I could cure her, but now...here I am just wallowing in my despair.” 

Luz squinted her eyes in thought. “Well, we have to get you back on your feet somehow.” 

Lilith laid down on the couch. “Yeah, yeah; while you brainstorm, I’ll just lay here for a moment.” 

“You were on the couch for two weeks!” Eda informed her, “I just had it cleaned!” 

Lilith tosses a puff chip at her. “Just leave me alone; the couch is the only one who understands me.” 

Eda scowled momentarily and walked out of the room. Luz watched Lilith for a couple seconds before deciding to head out as well. King was finishing up with his food when he saw them return. “Did it work out?” 

“Not exactly,” Luz said in a bitter tone. 

“Well, we can’t have her just sit there all day,” King noted. 

“We could always pry her off,” Luz said. 

“Already tried that: her butt’s glued to the seat.” Eda crossed her arms. “I think she transcended becoming one with it.” 

Luz snapped her fingers. “Maybe we can take a trip to the commerce to buy her something.” 

Eda raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that will work?” 

Luz shrugged. “Well, it could give her some motivation.” 

Eda rubbed her temples and sighed deeply. “Alright; guess we’ll fly there.” 

Eda came upon her staff but noticed that her palisman was missing. “That’s odd.” 

“What is it, Eda?” Luz asked. 

“Where’s Owlbert?” 

Owlbert was outside the Owl House staring at the ground. It remained in that stance for a while until it felt that the time was right. Owlbert crouched down to place its ear against the grass and listened. With one swift scoop of its beak, it held a fat, slimy worm. It grabbed the worm with its tongue and pulled it into its mouth. 

As Owlbert was enjoying the worm, a shrill sound rung out. Owlbert tilted its head in curiosity and flew. After a short distance, Owlbert could see what was making the sound: it was one of the children of the Bat Queen hunched on its side. 

The gang was looking for the missing palisman throughout the house but there was no sign of the little owl. They looked near and around the couch; in their bedrooms; the restroom...zilch. 

“Did you go anywhere yesterday, Eda?” Luz asked. 

“Wouldn’t it make sense that I would know whether or not I did?” Eda said in response. 

Hooty, per usual, popped in again unannounced. “Oh, I know where he is! Hoot, hoot!” 

Eda, Luz, and King gave Hooty a shared look of annoyance. 

“What do you mean that you already knew?” Eda asked in a thinly-veiled attempt to keep from snapping. 

“He’s outside,” Hooty clarified. 

“And why did you choose to tell us now?” 

Hooty pouted. “You guys hardly ever pay attention to me, so I thought it would be fun for you guys to search around inside me.” 

Eda punched the wall. 

“OW!! Okay, okay, you don’t have to be a jerk!” Hooty remarked “hoot!” 

The gang approached Owlbert and surrounded him. They too saw the same site. From the looks of it, the child of the Bat Queen’s wing was injured. Luz crouched down and extended her hand. The bat child hissed at her which did make her retract her hand, but she sensed it was because of the pain it was in. 

“But if this one is here, where are the other two?” Eda said. 

Luz’s eyes widened. “Something must have happened!” 

She got up and started to run off, but Eda caught her at the last minute. “Slow yourself, kid.” 

“But the Bat Queen might be in danger!” 

Eda nodded. “I don’t want you to go off on your own.” 

Luz’s gaze sunk. Eda frowned before continuing. “Which is why King and I will go with you.” 

Luz perked back up. “Well, what are we waiting for?!” 

Eda walked back into the house carrying the injured bat child. Lilith hadn’t moved from her spot on the couch even when they were tearing the house apart to find Owlbert. Eda rolled her eyes and placed the injured infant on her back. “Luz and I are going out for a bit; you and Hooty take care of this child.” 

Lilith looked up at her younger sister. “I can’t take care of a child like how you do, Eda.” 

“Well, it’s either you, or the child dies” Eda sternly said. 

“Hoot, hoot! Ooo, a baby!” Hooty said in his annoying tone of voice. “I can teach it everything I know!” 

After leaving the infant bat child in the care of her older sister and the house demon, the group of misfits embark to the forest. The clock was ticking.


	8. Something Wicked This Way Comes

“Where is the Bat Queen’s residence anyway?” Eda asked. 

The gang was flying over the forests of the Boiling Isles on Eda’s staff. Luz was situated behind her whereas King was sitting snuggly in her long, ungroomed hair. 

“We’re literally over it,” Luz explained in humorous tone, “she protects palismans that had lost their owners.” 

“Was she the one that took Owlbert that one time?” 

Luz giggled awkwardly. “Well, technically yes, but she was looking out for the little guy; she did give him back though.” 

King peeked out of Eda’s hair. “Something doesn’t look right, guys.” 

Eda and Luz looked down in the direction King poked his finger towards. Scattered on the ground were the broken pieces of palismans. From the looks of it, they were shredded into shards of wood and reverted back to their frozen states if they had somehow reunited with their original staffs. They resembled creatures, but to what they were alluding to was unclear as they were shredded beyond recognition. 

Eda gently swerved her staff and it made a downward nosedive. It hovered an inch from the ground over the broken pieces of the palismans. Luz bent and lifted some of the broken pieces of wood into her hands. 

“What could have caused this?” 

Eda gathered some of the shards and formed them into a small mound. “It looks like something came and tore them apart.” 

“But for what reason?” Luz asked. 

“Look at that,” King announced. 

There along the floor of the forests was a trail of discarded pieces of the palismans. Luz, without much provocation, began down the trail. 

“Wait, Luz!” Eda yelled, “it’s too dangerous.” 

Luz turned to look at the Owl Lady with concern filling her eyes. “The Bat Queen might be in danger! We have to help.” 

Eda sighed and grabbed King in her arms. Eda ran after the rambunctious girl deeper into the forests. The trail began to thin out until no other shards of wood could be found. Luz darted her eyes this way and that way for any small fragment to continue her trek to no avail. 

Eda caught up. Her hair was weighing her down due to the sweat that had accumulated into her follicles and were sucked up like a sponge. Beads of sweat trickled from Eda’s forehead. With her knees aching, Eda hunched over to counterbalance the weight of her hair. 

“I said to wait up, kid.” She groaned. “I’m not a young witch anymore.” 

“Blegh!” King popped his head out from Eda’s hair revealing that he was tangled up in strands of her hair. “How can you let yourself go for this many years, Eda?” 

“Say anything else, and I’ll burn you where you stand,” Eda threatened. 

It was a baseless threat, obviously so. It wasn’t as if she could really do much anyway given how she was depowered due to the events of nearly getting petrified by Belos. Eda saw that the trail had ended as well. “Before you ran off at full speed like that, I think I see what’s going on here.” 

“What is it, Eda?” Luz asked. 

“Remember how I said that witches made their palismans from a special type of tree?” 

Luz nodded. “Yes; are you saying that the tree is around here?” 

Eda chuckled. “There you go speed-running through me again.” She looked at Owlbert momentarily. “What I did not mention was that before you came along, palismans were becoming scarce.” 

Luz’s eyes widened. She was led to believe that there was an endless supply of wood to craft the familiars. But there was a scarcity of them? Perhaps there were limitations that she was woefully unaware of. 

“Around this part of the woods is a tree,” Eda explained. “From the looks of it, whatever attacked the palismans must be absorbing the magic from within them.” 

“If that were the case, then what would the reason be?” Luz inquired. 

There came a rustling coming from the trees. The group froze up. Eda held her staff and held it out in front of her. “It’s coming from that northern part of the woods.” 

King hid behind Luz. “We need to come up with a plan.” 

“Like what?” King asked. 

“Well, we need to sneak up on whatever is over there, and maybe if it’s distracted enough, we can bum rush him.” 

Eda arched an eyebrow. “Bum rush?” There she was again confused by the human terminology coming from her young apprentice’s mouth. 

“Yeah, it’s three of us against...maybe one of them?” Luz rationalized. 

“That would likely get us killed, Luz,” Eda pointed out. 

“Do you have any other ideas?” Luz shot back. 

Eda crossed her arms. “Good point, but perhaps we should take a side at three points.” 

The group agreed. Luz grabbed a stick and drew the plan on the ground. “Alright, so at the center is whatever is out there.” She then drew crude replicas of all three of them. “I’ll take the left side; Eda will take the bottom; and King will take the right. Understand?” 

King raised his hand. “Hold up; why do I look like I was mangled by some wild beast?” 

“You can question the creative liberties later,” Luz said somewhat annoyed, “we need to focus.” 

More thrashing came from the distance. The group of weirdos quietly walked through bushes to ready their positions. They heard claws ringing in the air. “Almost there!” Luz announced. 

They advanced towards a small patch of green. The movements of the unseen creature were more pronounced. They were met with another shrub that obscured their view. Luz knelt down and started to shuffle the tufts of grass away. 

“Be careful, Luz,” King informed her. 

Luz nodded and gently pushed herself through the branches of the shrubs. With her vision cleared, she peeked through it. She grew motionless. 

Eda’s eyes widened. “What is it, kid?” 

Luz moved over to allow her mentor to see the same thing she was seeing. “What could be so bad?” 

A large, batlike creature was hunched over a large tree relentlessly slashing at the bark. It was as black as dark, or rightfully speaking, a darker shade of black that sizzled from the creature. There was a smacking of the lips and a wet slurping sound that echoed in sickening succession within the group’s ears. Its massive wings crowded the surrounding area. Around the beast, the vegetation became brown and rotted. The lives of flowers were snuffed out. 

“That’s definitely not the Bat Queen,” Eda said in observation. 

They quietly walked closer to take a look. Some large, invasive organ, the creature’s tongue – with its black, slimy drool – was wedged in the tree and was pulsing rapidly. The gross proboscis soaked up the magic from within the tree resulting in the bat creature becoming bloated from the magic coursing through its veins. But the most pressing thing was the tree itself. 

There was a face on the tree; the eyes were doubled over in pain with its mouth hanging agape. It was then that it dawned on the gang: the tree was not only alive, but it was a thinking being that could feel excruciating pain. The bark on the front of the tree was ripped apart and pitched to the side in heaps. The bark was removed from top to bottom so the creature could better get access to the magical source of the plant. 

“Look!” Luz said in a hushed voice. 

When the other two saw it, they were taken aback. There was another discarded palisman tossed nonchalantly to the side. Unlike the other broken pieces of the previous palismans, this one was still largely intact. It resembled a large human head with the bat wings on opposing sides of the palisman. Long, thin strands of hair were mopped over its head. A frozen angry glare was plastered on the lifeless palisman. A large gap made up a major section of its mouth and light reflected off the back of the victim’s head. 

“We’re too late,” Luz said in defeat. 

The Bat Queen was dead but from the looks of it, she went down with a fight. The tree was growing darker and shriveling from having the magic inside get stolen from it. Luz looked down on the ground pillaging for something. 

“Kid, what are you doing?” Eda asked in alarm “what about the plan?” 

“If we don’t act now, that tree will die!” 

Luz cupped a large rock between her fingers and lunged it towards the bat creature. When it collided with the back, a shrill hiss rumbled from it. It stood in straight fashion on its hind legs. The bat wings flapped and shook the ground. Luz struggled to keep her feet in place. 

“Luz!” Eda yelled. 

Regardless of whether the ground itself was shaking, Eda darted towards Luz with King barely keeping up. Luz collapsed on the ground powerless before the large abomination. It turned its head around and glared down at the human girl. 

“Wha?” 

Eda became frozen in place, awestruck. The beast had one, three-lobbed eye darting this way and that. Fire danced within its eye in rapid movements. King’s eyes widened and he too fell on the ground. 

“King?” Eda yelled. 

King was sprawled on the ground doubled over in pain. The bat creature saw this and reared on its legs once more to stretch out its mighty, 9 ft long wings. Luz saw this and ran towards King to shield him. Quickly, Luz took the stick that she had from earlier and sketched a pattern on the ground. 

“I hope I know what I’m doing,” Luz noted. 

Before the bat monster could sink its teeth into a defenseless King, Luz pressed the pattern and from it, a thick column of ice erupted and nailed the beast in the head. Stunned, the beast walked backwards to recuperate. After regaining its composure, a rusty chuckle bellowed out in a low tone. 

“Hehe, so you are Luz Noceda, I presume?” 

Luz dropped the stick. “You...you can talk?” 

“Well, if you want to strike up an explanation, it is appropriate to speak,” the beast explained. 

Luz was still somewhat fixed on the bat monster’s ability to speak but looking at the lifeless husk that used to be the Bat Queen knocked her out of it. “Who are you?” 

“I go by many names some even predating the cosmos, but you can call me Nyarlathotep, my dear,” he said. 

“I don’t care what your name is,” Luz stated, “why did you do all this?” 

Nyarlathotep dipped his hand in a passive manner. “I’d like to think of it as taking back that rightfully belongs to me.” 

Eda ran over and held her staff between Luz and Nyarlathotep. “Why don’t you scram back to whatever hellscape you came out of?” 

Nyarlathotep grinned and exposed two rows of sharp, jagged teeth. “My, my, you both are awfully interesting; perhaps two of the most entertaining cards I have seen in thousands of years.” 

Nyarlathotep’s form began to shift down before their eyes. His eye divided into two equal parts, and whiskers of a long beard shot down from his chin. His colossal wings rolled up and disappeared behind his back. Two large, spindling horns erupted from the top of his cranium in graphic display. He grinned at the two again now having yellow, rotting teeth. 

“This form should be more serviceable for you two,” Nyarlathotep said. He spoke with elegant flair that greatly contrasted with his horrid appearance. “I could show up to you in any of my thousand forms, but your brains would surely turn to mush which wouldn’t be fun for both of us, wouldn’t it?” 

“Enough of the talking,” Luz said. She pointed the stick directly towards the strange goat man’s eyes. “I swear to the Titan if you do not leave this place, I...” 

Nyarlathotep chuckled and swatted the stick away. “Lowly mortals like you trying to challenge a being of higher existence like yours truly? Humorous, truly humorous.” 

The tree had become completely black and shriveled inward until it turned into ashes. “You...you killed it,” Luz said accusingly. 

“A small price to pay,” Nyarlathotep said, “it has been far, far too long since I have last stepped foot on the Boiling Isles; it is barely recognizable.” 

He walked over to the ashes of the tree and gathered some of the ashes in his hand. “After I had a cuisine meal of all those palismans that she tried to protect, I almost thought I would be missing out on the main course.” 

Eda clutched her staff angrily. “Well because of your gluttonous habit, palismans can never be crafted from the bark of that tree.” She pointed at the ashes. “Have you anything to say about wiping out these creatures?” 

Nyarlathotep placed his hands behind his back and pondered. “I have big plans for the Isles, girl. There’s no stopping the inevitability. When the stars align, the Boiling Isles will reach a new age.” 

He turned his stare at Luz and smiled. “Hence is why you, my darling, are an important player in my plan.” 

Luz shook her head. “I will never help someone like you with possibly apocalyptic intentions in mind.” 

Nyarlathotep raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you won’t? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my dear friend would say otherwise.” 

Luz lowered her stick. “Friend? What are you ta” 

Whack. 

Luz was struck on the side of her head by a blunt force. She fell on the ground from the shock with her vision faltering. From the look of it, she was hit by a blunt object. While her vision was becoming bad, she was able to make out a long, metallic object undoubtably a...crutch? Amity’s leg had healed up following the events of the Grudgby game, so it couldn’t be her. Then that meant that the only other person that had a pair of crutches to walk with was more than likely... 

She heard a familiar, mocking laugh. A ball of fire was glowing in the other hand of the person holding the crutch. Eda yelled out Luz’s name and from her scrambling, it was clear to Luz that she was going to collect King. Nyarlathotep was saying something else but she was uncertain what it was due to his voice sounding like a faint whisper. 

“Glad to see you again, round ears.”


	9. Astral Visitor

"Boscha!?"

Luz jolted back with a startle. She found herself once more in the gaze in one of her most tensely hated enemies. With her vision crystal clear now, she could see that she was indeed hit over the head with one of the three-eyed pink girl's crutches. In fact, she was slugged pretty good. Luz rubbed the side of her temple, and she felt a round bump protruding from it.

"Oh, good to see that I didn't kill you," Boscha said putting on a false sense of concern, "I would've wanted to humiliate you first before killing you."

Luz tried to push herself up, but Boscha weighed her down with her foot. Nyarlathotep transformed back into the bat like monstrosity and held Eda and King in his clutches. King still did not regain consciousness. Luz stared at Boscha again. Something felt different about the spoiled brat since she last met her. An unknown power surged through the pink girl's body; an ancient, primordial force predating the known universe.

"Boscha, I know that you are a real jerk and all, but how did you even meet up with this..." Luz stared at Nyarlathotep with contempt. "Ugly, hideous thing."

"Guilty as charged!" Nyarlathotep remarked.

Boscha restrained her foot and walked an inch away from Luz. "It was after what was probably the worst day of my life."

Luz scoffed. "You have only yourself to blame for what happened."

Boscha kicked Luz in the side invoking Luz to groan.

"You have been a constant thorn in my side ever since you first started attending school. Amity and I used to be closer, but now she had gotten soft; she won't even bully any of the bottom of the rank."

Luz rolled her eyes. "Amity told me everything; about how she always felt miserable when she was forced to hang out with you."

"Miserable?" Boscha asked "all I did was teach her to be tough; no one would ever step on her."

Luz stared at Boscha again. How could anyone that cruel be so clueless? She looked at Eda who was squirming to free herself and King from Nyarlathotep.

"Amity told me your secret."

Boscha had pulled out her purple scroll and was looking at Penstagram when Luz informed her. Boscha tensed up and dropped the scroll. "I said that in confidence and Amity promised to keep it a secret..."

While she was distracted, Luz got up on her feet and grabbed a stick. With quiet precision, she sketched the ice glyph and pressed the palm of her hand on it. When Boscha turned around, a thick icicle was poking dangerously close to her third eye.

"You're a half-witch, aren't you?" Luz asked.

Boscha grabbed the icicle and tore a piece of it. Nerves were forming on the surfaces of her eyes. "Don't call me that!"

She ran towards the human girl unprovoked. Luz dropped to the ground, stick in hand, and crafted a larger version of the ice glyph. Boscha was within arm's reach when Luz jumped on the glyph. Boscha held the icicle firmly and jabbed it in a savage fashion. Before it could make contact, a huge column of ice erupted from the ground catapulting Luz.

Enraged, Boscha drew a spell circle in the air and shot a wall of fire towards the beam of ice.

"Luz, look out!" Eda yelled.

Luz turned to stare at her mentor to see what the commotion was, but she could more than feel it. The intensity of the heat seared a gaping hole within the ice column and was melting. The bottom of the column was waning thin forcing her to dash further towards the top but with the rush of wind and downward spiral, Luz had difficulty with staying on.

Boscha shot balls of fire towards the human girl in unprovoked precision. Luz saw the fire hurdling towards her. The top of the column was receding faster as a result of the fire. Droplets of water wrapped around the human girl like a blanket; shielding her, the fire was dosed. Luz fell to the ground on some soft shrubbery.

"You seem awfully stronger since we last saw each other, Boscha," Luz noted.

"What gave it away?" Boscha asked half-heartedly. "But I should expect something of that sort from a human pet like yourself."

Luz got up again and held her fists out. "So that is why you bully Willow so much."

Boscha clenched her fists. "Amity promised that she would never tell anyone."

"You thought you would make yourself feel superior to Willow by lying about being a fully-fledged witch when your Dad was..."

Boscha shot out fire ball after fire ball but Luz swiftly dodged each one. "Don't you dare say it!"

"A jinn."

Something broke within the three-eyed girl. Instead of firing at Luz again, Boscha instead lunged at her and pressed her against the ground. All Luz could see were fists of fury flying down on her. Luz instinctively dodged most of the blows except for the instances where she was hit on the jaw.

"Yeah, that's right, your father isn't a full witch either isn't he?" Luz screamed. "What makes you think that gives you permission to mistreat Willow?"

"I hate Willow because she is too much like how the old me was!" Boscha shrieked. She got on top of Luz and slammed her fists on Luz's chest. "I was a weak, friendless, loser like how that half-a-witch was."

Eda's squirming became more forceful, but the grip Nyarlathotep held on her was infinite. "Let me go, you black floormat!"

Nyarlathotep ignored the Owl Lady's protests and quietly observed the fight. "Wonderful show isn't it?"

"I swear if you let Boscha kill Luz, I-"

Nyarlathotep placed one of his large claws over Eda's mouth. "Honey, no, you misunderstand; the human girl is much too valuable to let perish." He stared at King's lifeless body for a couple minutes. "I've just made it possible for my dear Boscha to – for a lack of a better term – sort out her troubles."

Boscha was tiring herself out rather quickly. She had already beat Luz's chest for what felt like hours and now she was growing bored with it. Luz refused to say anything further and it too took the fun out for the three-eyed girl. Her fists also felt numb from the consistent pounding she did. "I was bullied every day for when I was at school, at least until I met Amity."

"And so you thought that befriending a Blight would make you stand out in your social ranking?" Luz inquired.

"Because of that, I became someone that was feared." Boscha got off Luz and eyed her with disgust. "And when she introduced me to Grudgby, I became one of the biggest students on the campus."

Luz snickered.

"What are you laughing about?" Boscha asked. She was clearly becoming annoyed.

"Your story," Luz said in between her chuckles, "is just...pathetic."

The pupils in Boscha's eyes shrank. "What did you just say?"

Luz lifted her upper body from the ground. "You are nothing like Willow."

"Well, of course not," Boscha stated, "unlike her, I decided to not be someone's target practice anymore."

"You bullied Willow her whole life for every little thing," Luz retorted, "her appearance; her kind nature; and yet not once did Willow ever feel that she needed to pick on others."

"What are you saying?" Boscha, her rage feeling reinvigorated, drew another fire ball into her hand. She waited for whatever bad word Luz would say next.

"I am saying that for all the acting toughing and dominant, you are really just an insecure brat who decided to belittle others because you felt inadequate."

The fire ball disappeared from Boscha's hands. She went speechless for a few moments Luz's words still buzzing around like an invasive pest. She gritted her teeth loudly.

"That's right," Luz spoke defiantly, "you are nothing more than an insecure girl who bullies others to look cool, but you are desperately afraid that if you don't do so, then your social life is over."

A low growl came from her attacker. "You're dead!"

Pain surged through Boscha's leg. "Wha-"

The bones holding up her leg splintered and fractured. Without any indication, Boscha fell on the ground just shy of Luz. She grabbed her shin to ease the pain. "By the Titan, this hurts!"

Luz stood up and scratched her chin. "Huh. Looks like your leg got rebroken."

Boscha shot Luz a look. "I know that you ingrate!"

She wanted to strike the human girl once more, but her leg was shot. Nyarlathotep saw this and released his hold over Eda. "Come on, Boscha, we should get going."

The first thing that Eda did was hold her staff and held it in front of Nyarlathotep to intimidate him. "You're not going anywhere!"

Nyarlathotep scoffed. "Oh, I have had more than enough of my fill in fun, thank you very much."

Nyarlathotep flapped his wings and lifted his large frame off the ground. "I'm very delighted to have finally met you, Luz."

He gently grabbed Boscha with his right arm and tucked her in his hand. "I hope to see you all again soon."

With that, Nyarlathotep began to fly in the air. Luz, seeing them leave, held out a stick.

"Come back here, you...you...tree murderer!"

Eda tapped her hand. "I think that will do for today."

"But...but..."

Eda gave Luz a stern glare. Luz put her arms down to her sides and sighed. "Okay."

Boscha thrashed around in Nyarlathotep's hand. "Why...Why did you stop me from accomplishing my revenge?"

Nyarlathotep placed his finger on his mouth. "Hush now, we shall get our due justice soon, just trust me."

"I thought you healed my leg," Boscha whined, "you tricked me!"

"No, dear," Nyarlathotep said in a sympathetic voice, "I only gave you a small fragment of my power so that you could fight her."

"A small fragment?"

"Yes; I have acquired a small bit of my power back from the palismans and their source, but I am far from being all-powerful."

Boscha's head lowered. "So..we lost?"

Nyarlathotep grinned and his grin reached the tips of his mouth and wrapped around his head. "Far from it! Remember how I explained that my powers were stripped due to those glyphs?"

Boscha perked up. "Yeah?"

"What she did not realize was that she helped our cause."

"How?"

"By using the ice glyph," Nyarlathotep clarified. "When she used it, she unwittingly broke that seal, so chin up, dear, we are moving ever so closer to our goals!"

Boscha smiled back in response to the news. "What shall we do now?"

"I need you to recuperate," Nyarlathotep answered.

Boscha's eyes widened again. She shook her head in defiance. "So you are just going to throw me away too?"

Nyarlathotep rubbed a claw on her cheek. "No, as your mentor, I need to keep you safe; what good are you to die without fulfilling your purpose?"

Boscha nodded. She knew that he was right, but she still thought she was being discarded like trash. "Then who will you get to help us now?"

Nyarlathotep chuckled. "There are many pawns to weave through, but I sense that someone is totally willing to assist us."

"Who is it?" Boscha asked.

"I'll explain it to you soon, my dear child. Now, it's time to sleep. Do dream about chaos and other unpleasantries."

The gang returned to the Owl House sometime after. Hooty, once again, greeted them.

"Hey, guys!" Hooty hooted "you were gone all day; wanna know what I have been doing?"

Eda covered her head with her hand. "Look, we don't have all day to listen."

"Hoot, hoot! I have a riddle for you!" He hooted louder than before with his high-pitched voice. "I begin with four legs; then two; then three! Guess and I-"

Eda jabbed him in the eyes. "I ain't playing charades now, bird."

"OW!" Hooty lamented "fine, fine, sheesh!"

Hooty opens the door and the gang walks in. Before they could react, they saw the bat baby flying everywhere wreaking havoc throughout the house. The furniture, sans the couch, were ripped and shredded to chunks. Potions were poured all over the floor one in particular being a green, liquid that corroded through the floor leaving a gaping hole.

Toys were discarded and massacred and Luz's sleeping mat was somehow hanging on the ceiling. Lilith was still on the couch, but this time, she held a frying pan in her hand thus meaning that she did leave the couch while they were away. She cowered at the flying bat beast before her.

"What the hey, hey!" Eda remarked, "what happened?"

Lilith looked at her younger sister with fearful eyes. "You don't want to know."

"I just needed you to babysit the kid," Eda stated, "not make the house a warzone."

Lilith crossed her arms. "I told you that I couldn't raise a child."

She glanced over at Luz and saw her injuries. "Woah, what happened to your kid?"

"King? King, time to wake up."

King slowly opened his eyes but only through a small dint due to the light being too bright. "What happened?"

Luz pat his head. "You passed out little guy."

King looked around the house seeing the faces of those he recognized. "How did I get back here?" He took a longer glance around. "And why is the house a wreck? Did a goblin get loose in here?"

"Easy, easy on the questions," Eda said, "you really had us going when you saw that monster back there."

King could feel his head hurt again much akin to glass shards being pressed into the tender parts of his brain. "Would you guys believe that I might have seen this...thing before?"

Lilith tilted her head. "Really? Where?"

"In one of my dreams," King stated, "I feel like I remember being chased by it, and then there was some woman there...and...that is all, actually."

"What did she look like?" Luz asked.

"Maybe...brown-haired, and...I don't know, wearing a cloak, or something?"

King plopped down on a seat of the couch. Eda clapped her hands.

"Eh, we shouldn't bother trying to force him to say anything."

They agreed in unison and concluded that King needed some time to recover before he could provide other information to them. Instead, their minds were still on Boscha and Nyarlathotep. Somehow, Boscha came into contact with this mysterious entity who claimed to have some plans for the Boiling Isles. But to what extent his plans were they could not decipher.

"Well, what of this little guy's mother?" Lilith asked. She had managed to grab ahold of the monster and held it in her arms. They looked at her depressed.

"The Bat Queen is dead, Lilith," Eda said in a melancholic tone, "we are sure that the baby's siblings are also gone."

"Oh," Lilith said. "Tragic; what did this thing?"

"Nyarlathotep," Luz clarified.

Lilith shook her head. "Right, right...this Nyarlathotep fellow. What did he want with her?"

"He killed all the palismans to get to the tree that me and you carved to make our palismans," Eda explained.

Lilith's mouth dropped. "And of the tree?"

"Burned to ashes," Luz interjected. "He killed it to satiate himself."

Lilith dropped a bag of chips she was eating. "That means that Luz will never be able to make her own." Lilith caught Luz's glimpse. She was uncertain of whether or not Luz, as a human, could've even made one anyway, but now, she would never be given the chance to because it was taken from her. Lilith then stared at her sister's palisman. It was still safe and appeared fresh as though it was her first time using it. Lilith decided to change the subject as a means of clearing the air.

"So...Nyarlathotep, huh?" Lilith asked. She was eating more junk food and dropping the bags on the ground.

Eda rolled her eyes at her sister's newfound uncleanliness. "Yeah, ring a bell at all?"

"When I was in the Emperor's Coven, they did have some archives that Belos had strictly ordered to be locked away in the heart of the coven. I...actually never had any access to the hidden texts as Belos would like to call them."

"That makes it even worse!" Luz remarked. "We have to do something to stop him and Boscha!"

"But we hardly know anything about him," Eda emphasized, "who can possibly help us?"

"Oh, I can be of some assistance, madam."

The group jumped in shock at hearing an unfamiliar voice speak to them after overhearing their conversation. They glanced at each other somehow convinced that the voice – a monotonous one – came out from any of them.

There came a chuckle. "No, no, silly mortals, I am over here."

They turned to see someone standing at the far side of the room. It was a man. He was a visibly charming young man with a full beard. On his head was a crown of lively poppies that appeared to glow from the small fractals of light reflecting from them. His most startling trait, however, was his large, luminous eyes. When he opened them, his eyes were black and perfectly round. There were small glints in his massive eyes which felt like looking into the Milky Way galaxy and its celestial bodies. But through it all, what was also significant was his body.

"Are you a ghost?" Eda asked clearly fixated on the other spectre.

His body was translucent. He shook his head, but he still maintained his smile. For some reason while the smile was genuine, the gang also got the sense it was artificial or let alone forced.

"No, Owl Lady," he said, "I am no ghost; just a traveler is all."

Luz walked towards the man. Eda held her arm out to try to stop her. "Wait, Luz, this man just popped up, we can't trust him."

Luz ignored her mentor and continued her walk. Luz was in a daze, amazed by the being standing in front of her, but there was still that sense of urgency bubbling inside of her.

"Who are you and how did you know Eda's nickname?"

He chuckled once more, his deep voice shaking the house. He crossed his arms in amusement.

"Please, just call me Hypnos."


	10. An Unlikely Ally?

The gang looked at the odd man with the most utmost of confusion and bewilderment. This oddly beautiful man with a youthful appearance just waltzed his way into the Owl House without a care in the world, somehow hiding himself from Hooty’s detection and now he was offering his assistance. 

“How did you get here?” Luz asked him. 

“What you see before you is my soul,” Hypnos explained, “but I am not dead.” 

“So, if you are not dead, how did you leave your body?” 

Hypnos walked past Luz seemingly disinterested in her question. Hypnos directed his attention towards the couch and sat down on the far end of it. Lilith, having not moved a muscle for a duration of the time of his visit, inched herself as far away from the mystery man as she could. Hypnos smiled at Lilith’s frantic movements. 

“Don’t worry, mortal, I have no intentions of harming you.” 

Lilith sighed deeply and held her hand against her chest. Her heart beat at a rapid pace as a result of his uninvited presence, but she was nevertheless relieved. 

“You say that you know a lot about this Nyarlathotep guy,” Eda reiterated, crossing her arms. “How do we know you are not working for him?” 

Eda clammed up when Hypnos stared at her with his dark, luminous eyes. “I do understand your hesitation with trusting me, really I do.” He stood erect from his side of the couch. “I had bigger aspirations once a long, long time ago, but when I passed a gate...it all fell apart.” 

Luz did not understand what he meant by “gate,” but it was the least bit of concern in her mind. “What do you know about Nyarlathotep?” 

Hypnos frowned without warning. He placed a finger on the opposite sides of his head. He shut his huge, black eyes tightly. A gust of wind entered into the Owl House and whirled around the young man. His crown of poppies glowed in a red aura and ruffled in the breeze. The petals swirled through the air before clumping together to form a visual representation. The flower display took on the likeness of the planets and stars. At the center of the solar system was a large, spiraling ball that vibrated. 

“A long time ago before the universe as you know it came into being, there was Ultimate Chaos. The Mad God, the Daemon Sultan, Azathoth.” 

Luz looked closely at the visual figures with fascination. Hypnos slid back slightly. Luz’s cheeks blushed a deep shade of red. 

“Sorry, I just like hearing about backstories.” 

Hypnos nodded and continued his story. “From Azathoth, there came more ancient gods each making up aspects that maintain reality as we know it. The All-In-One Yog-Sothoth; The Black Goat of the Woods, Shub-Niggurath; the Crawling Chaos...” 

“Nyarlathotep?” Luz interjected. 

Hypnos nodded. “Yes, mortal.” 

The petals shifted and wedged together to form a crawling mass of tentacles and eyes. On the ends of the tentacles were sharp rows of teeth gnashing at whatever was close enough to them. Before the watchful eyes of the group of misfits, the tentacles wrapped around different planets and crushed them with its tight grasp over them. Other tentacled and multi-eyed abominations slid out of the small openings of space-time and devoured worlds alongside the first creature. 

“That is who Nyarlathotep is,” Hypnos emphasized, “throughout the multiverse, Nyarlathotep and his horde have laid siege and soundly destroyed them to their last molecule where only dark matter lied in their wake.” 

Next, the portals once more transformed this time manifesting as a series of humanoid shapes fighting against the forces of Nyarlathotep and his acquaintances. There was a great war between the opposing sides, but with more greater casualties against Nyarlathotep’s forces. Many were cornered and forced away to the furthest parts of the known universe never to be seen again. 

Only Nyarlathotep remained and fought against the chief of these humanoid beings, a large man with a gray, spindling beard. He rode in a seashell chariot that was pulled by bizarre flying entities. They had a smooth, silky complexion and slender bodies. Yet they were bereft of eyes or noses or any orifice that would have given them the semblance of a face. Not once did they ever make an utterance of a sound further alienating them from any other creature known to the universe. Their horns curved inward and their tails were like a barbed whip swatting away at invisible flies. 

“Who is the old geezer?” King asked. 

“That old geezer,” Hypnos said in air quotes, “is Nodens.” 

“He looks pretty good for being an old man,” Eda noted. 

“Eda, this isn’t the time to ask if he’s single,” Lilith stated. 

Ignoring the discussion, Hypnos continued his narration. “The Lord of the Great Abyss, Nodens hunts evil creatures in the Dreamlands, something that has put him in eternal enmity with Nyarlathotep; this happened to be their first introduction to each other.” 

“This is all fine and all,” Luz said somewhat in rush, “but this isn’t helping us at all with how Nyarlathotep came to the Boiling Isles.” 

“To avoid Nodens and his accomplices, Nyarlathotep tore a hole in space-time and came to a world that was still in its archaic state and in need of development and leadership.” 

To illustrate this, Hypnos fashioned a hole with a few of the poppies and had the tentacled mass trickle through it. Where the Crawling Chaos found itself was a total void where virtually no evidence of scientific advancements or evolution was evident. Nyarlathotep was badly beaten from his encounter with the Lord of the Great Abyss and licked the wounds of his defeat. And yet despite this, he changed his course of action and took up shop in what would become the Boiling Isles. With his cosmological foreknowledge, the Crawling Chaos waited ever so patiently to communicate with the inhabitants of the Isles in a way that they would comprehend. 

“When the earliest witches of the Isles arrived,” Hypnos said, “Nyarlathotep had already seeded a small fragment of his influence over the land; this is why you have the many bizarre anomalies that pillage through the Isles.” 

“So, because of this Nyarlathotep guy, he is the one to thank for our source of magic?” Eda asked. 

“Yes. Nyarlathotep drew from within himself the wild magic that the witches of the Isles would grow to depend on. They thought of it as charitable and revered him as their god.” 

The illustration of Nyarlathotep was depicted as pulling into his body and pulling out a small ball of light and handing it to a few of the inhabitants as a display of granting them his magic. This was long before the dreadful savage ages; before Emperor Belos; before the establishment of the coven system to limit the magic, the witches could perform. The figures gathered around Nyarlathotep offering up demonstrations of praise. 

Hypnos sighed deeply. “But as you may have imagined, Nyarlathotep wasn’t going to simply grant them magic without having something in return for his services.” 

Witches were aligned in long rows that led to flames. Hypnos did not have to further say anything as the looks of horror were fixed on the group’s faces. There was a sense of disgust bubbling from the deepest pits of the gang. The very idea that the magic they inherited from their ancestors came as the result of systematic sacrifice in macabre rituals uneased them. Only the Titan could possibly know what amount of pressure and pain they went through before their lives were ended far, far before their time. 

“All of this senseless sacrificing came to a head when one resident – an unknown figure – appeared before Nyarlathotep at his temple and stripped him of most of the powers he granted the children of the Isles and he was imprisoned away for thousands of years. But he kept one small piece of himself to watch over the Boiling Isles at least until the time was right.” 

Luz found herself deep in her thoughts curious about who was the likeliest candidate that Nyarlathotep left to upkeep the Boiling Isles. Due to Nyaralthotep being the de-facto ruler of the Isles thousands of years ago, it obviously would have to have been someone who had some sort of authority and at the least was charismatic enough to have the witches waver to him. Someone like... 

Luz’s eyes widened in shock. Of course, it made total sense; how could she have missed it before? Her fists shook in aggression. 

“Emperor Belos.” 

“You know him?” Hypnos asked. He said the question in a monotonous tone, still feeling as if he was distancing himself from the question for whatever reason. 

“You bet I know him,” Luz stated in confidence, “he almost petrified Eda.” 

“And I used to work for him,” Lilith added onto the conversation. 

King raised his hand. “Wait, are you suggesting that Belos is somehow related to Nyarlathotep?” 

“I am not suggesting it,” Hypnos said, “I know that he is.” 

King was stunned. “Then how-” 

“You remember my explanation of how this body you see before you is actually my soul?” Hypnos inquired. 

They nodded. 

“Your Belos is really the soul of Nyarlathotep who had escaped the imprisonment his physical body suffered.” 

“Wait, how does that work?” Eda asked. 

“Every mortal creature, much like the gods themselves, were given a soul long before they were conceived. The soul makes up the core of what makes you you; anytime you feel a sense of wanting more out of your life, that is your soul that gives you these suggestions. Not only is the soul apart of you, but they also have their own feelings and aspirations. Sometimes if the soul were to be separate from the body for a long period of time, they have broken away and go on to have their own lives.” 

“Are there good souls?” Luz asked. 

Hypnos chuckled. “Good and evil; some trivial labels that mankind gives to define something they don’t understand.” He turned away from Luz. “But I will tell you that many of those wondering souls do not bring harm to those that leave them be. They’d rather prefer to have lives of solitude than needless quarrels.” 

“Well, all of this has been entertaining,” Eda insisted, “but how do we stop Nyarlathotep?” 

“On the Earth, there is a book that Nyarlathotep desires.” 

“What is this book?” Luz asked. 

“It was a book that was written by the hero who initially trapped the Crawling Chaos; the book was copied a few times by their followers but seemingly disappeared from the Isles without a trace; a copy of the work was given to a raving madman who tried to perform dark rituals with the knowledge of the gods coursing through his veins. In that book was the incantation needed for Nyarlathotep to regain his powers. Once he returns to his full strength, that would spell the end.” 

So that was the reason Belos wanted to use the portal key to get access to the Earth Luz thought. While troublesome, Luz crossed her arms and grinned. “Well, we don’t have to worry about that; I destroyed the portal to the Earth.” 

Her smile dropped when she was met with Hypnos’ disapproving expression. “Aye, you did, but Belos is recreating the portal from the pieces that he could salvage.” 

Luz realized the error of her ways after allowing what Hypnos said to her to digest. “Then with that, he could take over the world!” She looked down on the ground with her eyes. “And I allowed him to.” 

“Cheer up my dear,” Hypnos said in reassuring fashion. “He doesn’t want to take over your world.” 

Luz sighed in relief. Whatever plans Belos had for Earth aside, at the least he was being truthful with his statement that the Titan – if it was alive – had no intentions of hegemony. 

“He doesn’t?” 

“No, he wants to destroy it.” 

Luz’s panicking shifted into high gear again. “How is that better!?” 

“Calm down, Luz,” Hypnos said, “this is why I am here after all; I will help you in your fight.” 

“Tell us please,” Luz begged, “my mother’s down there!” 

Hypnos scratched his eyebrow. “A few years back, I traversed the gates with a dear friend of mine, at least until I took a peep into the Ultimate Chaos.” 

“Is that what you did to get to the demon realm?” Eda asked. 

“Very observant of you, Owl Lady,” Hypnos said with a smile. “To do this...well..” 

He fidgeted with his fingers at a loss of what to say or how to express it. Luz and Eda were trying to patiently wait for the Lord of Dreams to get to his point. Belos could have sent his servants to Earth already to scale the cities for the book as far as they were concerned. 

“Spit it out,” Eda said, “you’re killing us.” 

“Well, how my friend and I traveled we had to take a few...mind-altering substances.” 

“You mean D-R-U-G-S?” Lilith interjected once more into the conversation. 

Hypnos nodded. “Yes; basically, for this to work, we have to...how do you say...” 

“So, we’re doing drugs?” Luz asked at last. 

“Pretty much.”


	11. Trouble At The Blight House

It was an uneventful night for the Blight family. The Blight twins were already in their rooms, and Amity was still awake looking over her homework for the next day of school. As she was finishing up her homework, she decided to look on Penstagram for updates. It struck Amity as odd that her former friend Boscha hadn't posted onto the site for some time since her fight with Willow. It wasn't to say that she missed seeing whatever her ex-friend posted, because after all, she did cause her to be bedridden with a fractured leg for a few weeks. But given how obsessed Boscha was with the site, it was uncharacteristic of her to ignore it for days.

Instead, it mostly consisted of posts from her other classmates like Skara and the like. She was just about finished with her browsing when a news flare got her attention. Looking at it, her jaw nearly dropped on her desk. "Palisman tree has been killed?" she said to herself.

The revelation took the air out of Amity's lungs. It was every witch of the Boiling Isles' dream of having their own staff and palisman. Now, she, and every other witch-in-training, would be denied that chance. Her; her siblings; Willow; Gus; Luz...

Amity's heart skipped a beat at the slightest thought of that human girl. Ever since that dance they shared at Grom in order to defeat Grometheus, the witch girl had found herself falling hard for Luz. Just thinking about her for one moment was enough for Amity to completely forget what she was doing, a more unfortunate consequence of being bitten by the love bug (when those insects were not in season that year). And yet, the most sufferable thing about it was Luz's obliviousness to her growing feelings. Amity wanted to hate herself for feeling that she was speaking to a rock, but Luz's stupid tendencies were also endearing.

Amity glanced at the papers on her desk realizing that she was writing something on one of the papers. She brought it up to her face seeing that it was addressed to Luz. Amity blushed a tomato red and promptly crumpled up the paper and through it in the garbage can.

"That was close," Amity thought to herself, "I don't know what I'd do if Luz read that."

A twinge of tiredness befell the young Blight. Yawning, she stretched her arms and was about to prepare for bed.

Knock, knock.

Amity turned towards her bedroom door. "Edric? Emira? What do you want now?" She crossed her arms and stomped her foot impatiently. "If it has to do with that bat that Edric wanted to keep, a frog ate it."

"It's me and your mother" the knocker replied.

Amity froze up at the realization of who it was. On the other side of the door were her domineering parents Odalia and Alador Blight. What possible reason did they have to knock at her door during that time of night? It'd better be urgent. Amity shook off her wondering thoughts and opened the door. Both of her parents were dressed in black, matching cloaks that covered their feet. Odalia looked like a spitting image of her young daughter; the only difference was the pure emerald green of her hair vs. Amity's brown spot that stuck out like a sore thumb. Her hair was tightly held back in a bow. The shoulders of Odalia's cloak arched in pointed triangles.

Alador had a noticeably grizzlier appearance. Short brown hair was on his head complimented by his goatee-styled beard. Thick, long eyebrows hung over as a canopy for his eyes but also contributed to his vaguely-goat attire. Like his wife, the sleeves of his cloak came together in arched shapes. There was a peculiar look coming from him one of contemplation. Amity couldn't help but notice that he gave passing glances to his wife then to the door. With the sporadic movement of his eyes, it gave off a sense that he truly did not want to be there or would frankly want to be anywhere but here.

"Yes?" Amity finally said, "what do you want?"

"Dear," Odalia said, "how did your week of school go?"

Amity raised an eyebrow at the sudden words. "Still at the top of my classes."

She was fully expecting some praise for her accomplishments, but her parents only responded with silence before turning their attention back to her.

"While at school, was there anything that you were trying to keep from us?" Odalia asked.

"No?"

"Oh, you don't?" Odalia said.

Amity shook her head.

"Let me rephrase the question then," Odalia announced, "was there anyone in particular that you were conversing with?"

Amity turned to look away at the judgmental eyes her parents were giving her. "No, of course not."

"Amity, don't try to assume that I am a hopeless imbecile." Odalia waved her finger in the air and withdrew a purple scroll. She took her finger and skimmed through her notifications. Amity and Alador looked at each with a shared look of curiosity until Odalia put her finger down. "What is this?"

She directed the scroll towards her daughter and pointed at something on it. Amity's heart sank from what she was seeing: a picture of her; Willow; and Gus. They were talking with each other in the school's library. Amity tapped her fingers in a nervous fidget to find an explanation.

"We had told you to stop associating with that half-witch," Odalia said strictly, "can't you see that you are squandering your status in the social order?"

Amity nodded. "Well, I can see why you think that."

Odalia crossed her arms. "Think? I know; you had kept that promise of yours for years now and yet you now decide to see Willow behind our backs?"

Amity clenched her fists. "Willow is special to me." She unclenched her fists with more conviction. "I told her that I would keep her safe."

"From who if you don't mind me asking?" Alador asked.

"Boscha," Amity responded with little hesitation.

Odalia's eyes widened. "We had struck up an agreement with her mother that you would befriend her, and yet, how long have you spoken to her?"

"I did not speak to her in weeks."

"I will have you know that Boscha had been missing for weeks," Odalia mentioned, "did she do something that caused Boscha to disappear without a trace?"

"Willow would never do that," Amity said with conviction.

"Whatever the case, we are concerned that you associating yourself with Non-Blights is affecting your mind," Alador said.

How offensive, Amity thought. Those were her friends they were criticizing and shamelessly belittling without their knowing.

"The last few days with all of them had been nothing short of amazing; I don't care if Willow is a half-witch or that Luz is a human. This is the first time in my life that I felt legitimately happy."

Odalia rolled her eyes. "That's great that you are happy, but do you know what bad precedent this would put on us?"

"No."

Odalia walked away from the room and disappeared. It was only Amity and her father in the room. He sat down by the side of his daughter's bed looking away. What he said next would surprise Amity.

"I'm actually kind of pleased with how you stood up for that half-witch."

"What?" Amity said.

"I was never fully on board with your mother's suggestion that you severe ties with Willow; I could see then – and now even – that you care deeply about her, and maybe forcing you to befriend Boscha was just our way of ensuring that you were strong."

He pat Amity's covered foot. "But look at you now; the top of your class; actually going against Boscha even though it would be foolish in the eyes of others; and your loyalty are all great attributes; if only there were a way to go back time where your mother and I chose to let you do what you want. Only then you would've become a witch more powerful and feared and it would be your success to reap."

Amity didn't know what to say. She always assumed that Alador would be against Willow because of her status and developing prematurely. But this was the same father who was now retconning everything her old dad had tried to establish. She was reminded of how she secretly wrote in her journal how she didn't want to be mean but only did so to not show weaknesses. This was likely the same tactic that her father does. At the same time, Amity couldn't shake off the notion that Alador still went along with her mother's demands was still a spineless blunder.

Odalia walked back into the room carrying a thick book. She held it up with her hands to show what she had. "It is a book of the history of the Blight family."

She opened it up and skimmed the pages until her finger landed on a picture. "Your great-grandmother Audrea was one of the most powerful witches of the family." She flipped to the next page of the yellowy-wrinkly book. "There's Ozpin demonstrating his first time using his Abomination."

She flipped through more pages whilst ignoring the dust kicking into the air. "Can't you see all these amazing people?"

"Well, I have read small parts of the book," Amity said, "but what are you trying to say?"

"I AM saying that you are besmirching the proud family name by continuing to squander your attention by continuing to see Willow against our back."

"Well, I don't even want to BE a Blight if it means that I will have to throw Willow and the others away like a griffin's hairball."

Odalia slammed the book shut and placed it on the floor.

"What of your dream of entering the Emperor's Coven?" she inquired.

"Lilith left it," Amity noted, "do you think that there was something horribly wrong enough to make her bail?"

Odalia scoffed at the point. "Lilith is a traitor; only a full would turn their backs on the privileges that Lord Belos would bestow to them." She placed the palm of her hand on the door frame. "Let only death be the harshest punishment that a traitor deserves."

Her mother was right about one thing: witches were forever indebted to Belos and to leave would be an act of treason fitting only those who practiced wild magic. Amity couldn't help but feel worried for her former idol, but she also felt a sense of karma for her due to her almost killing the love of her life.

"But dear," Alador said, "at the least Edric and Emira are approaching the age for the coven."

"I don't care if the twins are likely better qualified," Odalia said, "please reconsider everything you will be sacrificing and do the right thing."

Amity shook her head. "I am through with you controlling me."

Odalia's pointed ears perked up. "What was that?"

"You heard me loud and clear Mom: I am never going to leave Willow the way she was again."

Odalia turned around and pointed her finger at her daughter. "And I do not want you to associate with that human girl."

"Her name is Luz, Mom," Amity said.

"I don't care what this human girl's name is; if anything, she is some rat with a lot of gall to believe that she can be just like us."

Amity raised her finger. "She can perform magic; just...in a way that I have never seen it being done."

"That is not magic," Odalia insisted, "that is utter mockery of what the Titan blessed us with; I will not have it up to here with a talentless mongrel like that."

Amity passively shot a fireball at her mother in the heat of her anger. Odalia narrowly avoided the ball which immediately ran out of fuel. Odalia's eyes twitched.

"So, we have a failure to conform?"

Amity immediately clasped her hands together. "I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't mean to..."

"Enough!" Odalia raised her hand. "Maybe a trip to the Conformatorium would be beneficial for both of us."

Amity's eyes bulged at the announcement. "No, anything but that!"

Odalia bent down and collected the family album book. "I am giving you this one chance: either you do as we say and abandon Willow, or we would be forced to have you taken and you would be stripped of the Blight name."

Amity looked down to hide her hurt expression.

Odalia put her arms on her sides. "Understand?"

Amity nodded without another word.

With that, her parents left the room and quietly shut it to avoid the twins being woken up by their ramblings. They walked down the hall and entered their bedroom: there was a white sheet that split the room in middle on both sides being matching beds made with the same material. They both sprawled on the bed and said nothing for a few minutes.

"Odalia," Alador started in a hushed tone, "maybe you are being a little too...over-exerting?"

"No, that is foolish thinking," Odalia replied, "this is her future we are talking about."

"Maybe that's the problem?" he answered back "maybe you're projecting yourself onto our daughter?"

Odalia rolled over. "I tried my best to become a part of those elites, but my chances were always taken from me; I just want what is best for our daughter."

"But you also try to die her hair green when you know she's a natural-"

She hit her fist against the wooden bed post. "What was that?"

"Oh, uh, nothing, dear," he said. "Goodnight."

Both of them were still very much awake, but they opted to not speak of this any further. At least until the morning.

Amity was under her bed covers rolling around a few times. She could not believe her mother. After years of taking her abuse, she finally had her chance to tell her mother what she felt, but now she was weighing down harder for her. And Luz...she could not bear to listen to her mother speak of her shamelessly. Human or witch, it didn't matter: she felt at home with Luz and the other misfits. She took her pillow and pushed it over her head.

"UH! Why is life this complicated!?"

"I know, right? What a drag."

Amity bounced forward in her bed to scan her surroundings. "Who said that?"

"Up here!"

She looked up at the ceiling and, to her horror, she saw a black-eyed man staring down at her. She tinkered around with her desk and tossed a book towards the man. It squarely hit him in the face.

"Ugh! Hey, be careful with that!" he yelled back.

"Who are you?" Amity said. She was reaching for something else to grab.

"A friend of your human girl," he replied, "I am Hypnos."

Amity had grabbed a few scrolls and was positioning them in the direction of the man. "Did you do something to her!?"

Hypnos slid his arms through the ceiling in a defense stance. "Rest assured, she is fine; but she needs your help."

Amity dropped the scrolls to blush profusely. Luz needed her? Her little heart could barely take it. "Yes! Who do I have to kill?" she said absent-mindedly.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I'd like you to dial it back a couple knots."

Amity put her face in her hands. "Yes, yes; I apologize."

Hypnos appeared in front of her bed and held out his hand. "Well? Are you ready?"

"I don't know," Amity said, "what about my parents?"

"Oh, I just went into your siblings' minds to instill in them to keep your parents busy and away from the door at all times; no matter how ludicrous."

With that, Amity took his head and they were off.

Meanwhile at the Emperor's Coven, Belos was sitting at his throne his mind wondering. His spy had returned from spying on the residents of the Owl House and reported of some suspicious behavior. "So, Hypnos is assisting them?" he thought to himself.

He was alerted to a knock on his door and left the idea of an Elder God assisting the mortals on the backburner. "Yes, come in."

Kikimora poked her little demon head from the other side of the door. "My Lord, you have a visitor."

Belos flicked his fingers causing the metal to shake. "Send him in."

Belos was in the middle of opening up another palisman when he suddenly dropped it. The figure came in with an odd walk to him. He was a tall man who eclipsed Kikimora. A dark, swarthy man, his head was shaved bald yet no light gleamed off it. He resembled an Egyptian from the ancient times (some insisting that he had native blood flowing through his veins). The man possessed a lean appearance and well-built frame. Around his lower body, a skirt of misty colors manifested. Aside from hair, he had a long, pointed beard hidden behind a metal case.

Emperor Belos got out of his throne and bowed before the figure. "Master! It's been far, far too long!"

Nyarlathotep held up his hand. "No need for such fluffy worship; I see that you have kept the Isles in top-knotch shape for years now."

"Yes, and the Isles are flourishing as a result," Belos responded.

"If only you had little free will to do that," Nyarlathotep mumbled.

"As you can see, the portal is ready as we speak," Belos announced, as if expecting some praise from his master.

"Excellent work; once the book is found and I receive my powers, everything will be different."

Belos nodded. "And I can get some due vengeance...I have...misgivings with the Earth."

"I did not come here to observe your process," Nyarlathotep stated, "I have a demand."

Belos tilted his head. "What is it, Master?"

"In the festive village of Bonesborough, there is a particular family of talented witches. I am sure you know of them."

Belos answered quickly. "The Blight family?"

"Yes - I am glad that you are putting that brain of yours to good use – in the family, I want the matriarch to join your ranks."

"But Master, Odalia Blight had already tried to enlist the ranking years ago and lost her chance; I cannot allow her to join."

Nyarlathotep walked over to the Emperor, fire dancing in his eyes. "Is that a sign of disobedience?"

Emperor Belos quickly clammed up. "No, sir."

"Good. You will have Odalia join the Emperor's Coven, and she will be my pawn...at least until she bores me and wears out her use. I will send my protégé to the school of Hexside; there is a certain man there who does know the whereabouts of the book's copy on the Earth. If push comes to shove...well...think of any unpleasant fate that could befall him and his students."

Belos understood the veiled threat. "Very well; I feel that I should also inform you that the human girl is likely planning something to jeopardize our plan."

Nyarlathotep laughed. "Ah, Luz? She's a lovely girl and has become a favorite chew toy of mine."

Nyarlathotep turned to walk out of the throne room. "Please also allow Odalia to gain access to your weapons."

"Bu-but..."

Nyarlathotep clenched his fist causing the Titan's heart to beat rapidly. Belos plopped on the ground to grasp at his chest. His breathing was becoming slanted; with little push, Nyarlathotep could crush the heart with whatever unholy power he had at the moment and that would be the end of Lord Belos. Nyarlathotep released his grip on the heart and exited the throne room.

"The Day of Unity is upon us," Nyarlathotep announced.

Alone in his throne room, Belos' regular breathing returned. He clutched weakly at one of the arms of his throne and picked himself from the ground. He looked over his shoulder to see if Nyarlathotep was truly gone. After giving it a few minutes, Belos went behind his throne and knelt down. There was a secret compartment behind it. He steadied his breathing and opened the compartment. Inside of it was a spear that housed a crazily angled rock. He clasped it in his hands and studied it carefully.

"It'll soon be time."


	12. The Emperor's Coven

The gang waited patiently for Hypnos to return with the Blight child. While waiting, Luz decided to relay the others on their plan. 

“Alright, so Amity and I will go to Earth in our astral bodies and when we find out where the book is, Eda will use this bell and bring us back.” 

Eda held the bell in her hand and rang it. “Why did you need Amity in particular to travel with you?” 

“I knew that Willow and Gus would be attending Hexside tomorrow, and I couldn’t bring them into this kind of situation,” Luz explained, “besides, if they notice I am gone, I am hoping that they’d protect our bodies when we are gone.” 

“I am still somewhat unsure about what we are trying to accomplish,” Lilith said, “Hypnos said that you needed to take these...drugs. How are we going to get them?” 

Eda flicked her hand. “Don’t worry, sis, I have the solution.” 

Eda walked out of the room and loud shuffling was heard. Some potion jars were dropped on the floor and exploded upon impact. The floor began to transform into different objects and shapes when Eda returned carrying a bottle in her hands. 

“Sister, that isn’t what I think it is,” Lilith started. 

Eda grinned. “Yes, indeed, Lilith; apple blood from 40 years ago!” 

“Eda, why in the Titan’s name would you keep that bottle around for 40 years?” King asked. 

“Pipe down, dog, I was actually considering saving this brew for Luz when she graduated Hexside, buuuut we could use this to help her travel.” 

Luz gagged on reflex. “I don’t know, Eda; what if that’s dangerous?” 

“Luz, how I see it, one of two things could happen: either this apple blood will send your soul out of your body so you can jump dimensions, or it could kill you.” 

Luz frowned. “Both options sound too risky.” 

“Maybe we can use a guinea pig for this experiment,” King suggested. “Hey, Hooty!” 

Hooty’s tube head popped into the room, startling Lilith. “Hoot! Hoot! Hey guys!!” 

King grimaced at the annoying voice coming from the house demon. “How would you like to play a game?” 

Hooty’s black eyes bulged excitedly. “Ooo, a game! What are we playing? Charades? Chess! Ooo, maybe we can see who can put the most worms in their mouths without swallowing!! Hoot! Hoot!!” 

“Shut up!” King yelled, his head throbbing, “we need you to drink this.” 

He took a mug and poured the apple blood into it. A dark red liquid dripped out of the bottle with a sickly nauseating plop. He placed the mug at Hooty’s invisible feet and waited his eyes growing more intense. Hooty shifted his tube body to smell the concoction. His feathers ruffled in disgust. 

“That smells like a goblin soaked his socks in it for months!!” 

King nodded. “I know it smells bad, but we need you to drink it.” 

“Mmm...what’s in it for me?” Hooty asked. 

King scratched the boney part of his head for a moment. “If you do this, then...” 

Luz interjected. “We’ll listen to your stories for a whole week!” 

King turned to look at Luz with a hint of frustration on his face as if to criticize her for the suggestion. He turned back towards Hooty and forced his head to nod. “Eh...sure.” 

Hooty smiled. “A WHOLE WEEK!? You guys hardly ever listen to my stories; finally, I will have some acknowledgment, hoot! Hoot!” 

“Ugh, fine, whatever,” King said, “just drink it.” 

Hooty knelt his body down to look at the liquid in the mug. Along with the red tint that gave the beverage its name, there appeared to be green moss growing in it. “Ew...do I have to?” 

King flicked his fingers. Hooty sighed and closed his eyes so at the least he did not see what he was about to drink. The tip of his beak formed into a circular shape and he took a long swig of the concoction. King and the others felt their cheeks turning green. 

“He’s...really doing it,” King observed, “I was kind of half-kidding when I said that we should test it on him.” 

Hooty finished the mug and looked up again at the others. He didn’t say anything to them. 

“Uh...Hooty?” Luz said, “are you okay??” 

Hooty’s eyes widened and glimmered from seemingly glaring into the universe itself. Before they could say anything additional, Hooty fell to his side. 

“Oh cramity, I think we killed Hooty!” Luz said. 

Eda knelt down and placed two fingers close to Hooty’s mouth. “Naw, he’s still warm.” 

“If only he was dead,” King complained. 

“Then that means the astral travel had worked?” Lilith asked. 

“Mmm...looks like it had.” Eda answered. “He’s probably already going down one of those wacko dimensions as we speak.” 

King poked Hooty with a stick. “He was the security system, though; are you sure we can handle things while he is gone?” 

“Of course, it’s just that we have to watch two girls’ bodies while they are traveling through the vastness of space.” Eda shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not that complicated.” 

Luz looked at the unconscious tube bird and then at the apple blood. “Well, Hooty’s a house demon, and I’m a human.” 

“Oh, that is true,” Eda said, “some drinks in our world might do unspeakably malicious things on your system.” 

“Knock, knock.” 

Hypnos came in carrying Amity on his back. “I got the girl!” 

“Amity!” Luz screamed. 

Amity immediately blushed from hearing Luz’s voice. 

“Oh, Luz! Fancy meeting you here!” 

“I live here,” Luz pointed out. 

“Oh, right, you live here,” Amity giggled anxiously. “And I came here to see you.” 

Amity tensed up from Luz’s stare. “I spoke to much!” 

Hypnos rolled his eyes and sat Amity down. “You can have your infatuation moment later on.” 

“Amity, we need your help,” Luz said. 

Amity slammed her fist into her open palm. “Yes, who do I have to kill?” 

She scanned the room for a moment and saw that Lilith was sitting on the couch. “You wanted me to kill her?” 

Lilith held her hand out. “Woah, woah, I know it looks bad, but-” 

Without much prompt, Amity conjured up her Abomination and it towered over the older witch. “Abomination, kill!” 

Amity’s Abomination grabbed Lilith with his right hand and started to compress her with its large fingers. Lilith squirmed underneath the grip of the blobby monster to no avail. 

“Amity, wait, please!” Lilith yelled. 

“That’s what you get when you tried to kill my girl!” Amity yelled. She turned to look at Luz only now realizing what she had just said. “I-I mean my friend! No one tries to kill my friend.” 

Eda stood up and grabbed onto Amity’s hand. “As much as I can understand your anger, this isn’t why we called you.” 

Amity’s cheeks were red again this time from embarrassment. “Oh...sorry Lilith.” 

The Abomination dropped a traumatized Lilith on the couch. “So, why am I here?” 

They explained to Amity everything from Nyarlathotep’s return to the Boiling Isles, and how Emperor Belos was working alongside the dark god to enact the Day of Unity. Amity sat on the couch and quietly listened. Each passing moment, Amity felt a sense of dread overtake her. She looked down at her hands. 

“All the times I used magic; you mean to tell me I was actually profiting off the sacrifices of different witches?” 

Luz nodded sadly. “I am sorry that you had to learn about the darker side of the Isles’ history.” 

“But if what you are saying is true, wouldn’t it make more sense to infiltrate the Emperor’s Coven and steal the portal door from Belos under his nose?” Amity asked. 

Hypnos wagged his finger. “Belos is far too powerful to take on at your state.” He walked over to a wall of the house. “You all would get slaughtered the moment you step foot in his kingdom.” 

“I guess that makes sense,” Amity said, “but...drinking this potent apple blood. Would it be too dangerous?” 

King pointed at Hooty’s lifeless body. “It worked for Hooty.” 

Amity frowned. “He looks dead.” 

“No, he’s not dead,” King assured her, “he still has a pulse, see?” 

He grabbed Hooty’s head and shook it in his hands. Amity’s fears were not comforted in the slightest. King tired himself out from shaking Hooty and unceremoniously dropped the head carelessly on the ground. 

“There is no other way,” Luz said, “there is only one portal key, and that is what Belos currently has in his possession.” 

“True, but...I am still worried,” Amity noted. 

Luz clutched her hand tenderly. “Don’t worry; I’ll be doing it with you.” 

Amity’s heart galloped quickly behind her ribs. Oh, sweet Titan, she was holding the hand of her crush. It was...soft, silky smooth like a baby’s bottom. Even though it was a mundane gesture, Amity felt that she was committing a grave sin. Her thoughts were spiraling out of control she couldn’t stand it. Dear Titan, give her strength. 

“Amity, are you okay?” Luz asked in concern. 

Amity quickly broke out of cloud nine still as red as ever. “I-I’m fine, Amity.” 

“But you’re Amity,” Luz pointed out. 

Sweat rolled down Amity’s forehead in beads along with some sweat accumulating onto Luz’s hand. “Oh, right, I am, aren’t I?” 

She giggled nervously hoping to at least get the others laughing to feel less awkward. When she was met with the dead eyes of the others, she stopped laughing. “Let’s just do it.” 

Outside of the owl house, the spy quietly listened and turned to return to Belos to report on what he had heard. As morning encroached on the Blight family, Odalia was already in the kitchen, having woken up earlier than the other members of her family. 

“And this time, serve us something that we’d actually want to eat,” Odalia said sternly to her maid. 

“As you wish, ma’am,” the maid groaned. 

Odalia withdrew one of her favorite mugs from the cabinet and started to prepare some apple blood for herself. While gathering the ingredients, she heard a slight knock at the front door. Odalia groaned in annoyance. “Who can that be at this hour?” 

She yelled for the maid to stop what she was doing and go to the door. She waited around a few minutes, but the same droning of the door echoed through the house. “Come on, what am I paying you for?” 

Odalia rubbed her chin. Oh, right, she wasn’t paying her in snails. She thought about waking up her husband, but she couldn’t remember hearing him snore or let alone hear him move around in his bed. Maybe the twins, but they would probably do something mischievous as they often do. Amity? She was still somewhat upset at her daughter’s scathing opposition of her demands so she was likely to continue to be on her rebel streak. 

The knock at the door only further annoyed the Blight matriarch. “Alright, fine, I will do it.” 

She exited the kitchen and walked to the front door. “Yes, I am here; stop with your petulant, infernal knocking!” 

She opened the door and was surprised with what she was seeing. There stood one of the imperial guards of the Emperor. Odalia rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes out of fear of hallucinating the event. But it was very real. In the guard’s hand was a scroll. 

“Pray tell, why are you here at my house at this hour?” 

The imperial guard didn’t speak. Instead, the guard rolled out the scroll in front of her and read what was on it. “Miss Odalia Blight, the Emperor has requested an audience with you.” 

Odalia stepped back. “With...with me? Emperor Belos?” 

“Aye; now please come with me.” 

Emperor Belos was once again on his throne, passively waiting. His spy stood by the throne on the right side of it. 

“Yes, my lord,” the spy replied, “the human girl is planning on arriving to the Earth before you can claim the book.” 

Emperor Belos chuckled. He tentatively touched the scar on his mask that he received from his last encounter with the girl. “She is a very resourceful young lady, isn’t she?” 

“As you say, my lord; what is the purpose of the book if you do not mind me asking?” 

“It is an ancient book that was written thousands of years before I arrived to the Boiling Isles; it records many secrets and accesses to the dark arts. The book documents beings like the Titan and where they trekked and from where they will once again walk.” 

The spy was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by Kikimora. 

“We’ve retrieved her.” 

Emperor Belos nodded and held his staff in his hand bidding the spy to leave. The spy understood and began to walk out. Down the corridors, he caught a glimpse of Odalia. Both of their eyes locked on each other. Before Odalia could say something about the peculiar stranger, the spy turned away and fastened his pace. Odalia shrugged and subsequently shook out any iota of suspicion from her mind. Belos stood from his throne to glance at Nyarlathotep. 

“The deed is done, Master,” Belos said solemnly. 

“Very good indeed,” the Crawling Chaos replied. “Leave us.” 

As Belos turned to walk away, Nyarlathotep held out his staff. “I pray ask is your devotion still towards me?” 

Belos lightly pushed the staff aside. “Yes, Master; I would never betray you.” 

Nyarlathotep directly stared into Belos’ blue eyes for a few seconds and withdrew the staff. “Very well.” 

Belos left through the back of his throne, relieved that Nyarlathotep didn’t suspect the spear he had locked away. Nyarlathotep sat down in the place of the Emperor and waited. 

“Lord Belos, I’m he-” 

Odalia stumbled on her words. Instead of Belos, she was instead in the presence of some...swarthy man. And yet, something about the dark-skinned man was oddly enthralling. His chiseled appearance; the intensity of his eyes; he had colored strips of linen on his head. From what Odalia could speculate, he was without a doubt of royalty. 

“Welcome, Odalia, matriarch of the Blight family,” Nyarlathotep replied. 

He had a smooth-way of speaking, sometimes even deliberately prolonging the last letter of his words to burrow into Odalia’s mind. 

“Who are you?” Odalia finally asked. 

“I am Nyarlathotep,” he replied, “I have risen from the blackness of twenty-seven centuries to deliver a message.” 

“What is it that you want with me?” Odalia inquired. 

“Why to join the Emperor’s Coven of course!” Nyarlathotep said extatically whilst raising his toned arms. 

Odalia couldn’t believe it. Joining the coven was always a lifelong dream of hers, but due to forces outside of her own, she was forced to leave it as it was: a dream. This was the exact reason she wanted Amity to try for the Emperor’s Coven when she became of age. But with Amity speaking a lot of insolence lately, Odalia realized that she could not live through her daughter, even if she forced her to dye her hair to match her own. 

“Well?” Nyarlathotep asked. 

Odalia fidgeted with her fingers. “It is a great honor, my lord, but I feel that my chances of officially joining it are slim.” 

Nyarlathotep tilted his head. “I am a representative of the Titan that you revere.” 

Odalia raised an eyebrow. “You are?” 

“The Titan has informed me that the Day of Unity is at hand: the gods have declared that there would come a new birth for the Boiling Isles, one where the weak are suppressed and extinguished from this land. The strong will rule this land and will never grow weary. Your lineage will be exalted above the heights of the clouds and will be a force to reckon with.” 

Odalia tapped her chin with her fingers. That sounded like a good deal; join the Emperor’s Coven and she would reap the benefits of it. “If I do this, I will make the Blight family name the greatest in the world?” 

Nyarlathotep sneered. “All of creation will know your name from the furthest parts of the galaxy to the fabric of reality itself.” 

“You have yourself a deal, Nyarlathotep,” Odalia smiled. 

Nyarlathotep took his finger and drew a circle. From the small portal, a book fell. The book opened itself up to reveal an empty page. Nyarlathotep took the pen fashioned from bone and motioned for Odalia to take it. 

“Your blood, please.” 

Odalia hesitated at first out of disgust that she would have to prick her finger and write her name in her own blood on some crummy old paper, but the promises that the Crawling Chaos promised her proved too powerful. She jabbed her finger with the bone with enough force that even Nyarlathotep was slightly taken aback by her decision. Her blood dripped through the page and onto the other pages. 

“Excellent work, Odalia,” Nyarlathotep proclaimed, “for enlisting, I will bestow you with this.” 

He produced a staff and placed it in her hand. “A staff.” 

Odalia looked at the staff with curiosity. “But I already have one at home.” 

“I know; but this staff, in particular, can collect magic, not just from your magic bile, but from any other source.” 

“Hm, that would be useful,” Odalia thought, “what shall you have me do?” 

Nyarlathotep turned her back into the hands of Emperor Belos and they walked down the empire. Through the doors, Belos stopped and talked to Odalia. 

“It is great that you are assisting in our cause; The Day of Unity is upon us.” 

They came upon a door that was locked away from the other rooms. Belos, with staff in hand, placed the tip of it on a sensor button. The door opened to allow the two in. Through the doors, Odalia saw more of the Emperor’s imperial guards walking to and fro on the stairways carrying heavy boxes. What struck her the most was the large machine in the middle of the bizarre laboratory. 

“What is that, my lord?” Odalia asked. 

“A gateway to other worlds,” Belos passively explained, “when the human girl came to rescue the Owl Lady, she tried to destroy the door that led to the Earth.” 

“So, you managed to salvage what was left of it?” 

“Very observative, Odalia,” Belos stated, “as we speak, the human and your daughter are going to go to Earth to acquire a book that I am after.” 

“Daughter?” Odalia repeated. 

The twins were still at home. She hadn’t heard anything from Amity when she had her talk with her which meant....her eyes doubled in size from the rationalization. 

“I told Amity to not associate with that rat,” Odalia lamented, “I apologize for her; if she did something treasonous...the family line then....” 

Belos held his hand out to silence her. “The Titan has told me that to stop the foolish human girl, you will lead a righteous crusade on the Earth.” 

Odalia bowed her head. “It is an honor to work with you in the name of the Titan.” 

Belos led her deeper into the laboratory. “As you know, the cost of treason against our way of life is petrification.” 

Odalia gulped deeply as a sign of her comprehending the cost of treason. 

“But you may not be aware of what becomes of the soul of the traitor, I assume?” 

He opened another door in the laboratory. The imperial guards were painstakingly melding together red scraps of metal to form rows of armor. A conveyor belt carried the scraps of metal to assemble them. At the top of the conveyor belt was a large vat. It contained a scorching hot, melted down liquid and tipped itself into tubes. The hot liquid flowed through a series of pipes to a slab of metal. The slabs of metal slammed together with great pressure. 

The substance sizzled and cooled remaining that way for thirty seconds until the slabs drew themselves away. In the middle were more of the scraps of metal. Odalia’s eyes twinkled. 

“Armor? For what?” 

“For the crusade,” Belos explained, “but does something strike you as peculiar about the metal?” 

Odalia looked closely at the suits of armor unsure of what to expect. It soon became clear: armor that was being hammered into place moved about sluggishly. Each piece of metal that was hammered on made the armor jolt in excruciating pain. It was becoming crystal clear what Belos implicated with the armor: the armor was alive, and reacting in distress. The imperial guards picked and prodded at the armor suits forcing them into open boxes with their staffs laced with electrical wires. 

Belos stood in front of one of the suits of armor and struck it. 

“When these former witches committed treason, their bodies were left behind, but as for their souls...they were incapable of escaping their fates. So...after giving it some consideration, I had tasked my servants with collecting pieces of the stone statues and mixing them with metal native to the Isles to create a sturdier metal.” 

“Then that means,” Odalia started. 

“That is right; the souls of the executed witches were melted down to create the perfect metal for the perfect suits of armor.” 

The armor moved around in a method similar to how Abominations are maneuvered. However, it was apparent that they still retained enough of their senses to feel pain. Shrill screams seeped out from the helmets of the metal in forced fits of air. They wobbled on their feet yet could not go one minute without falling over. Black paste oozed out through cracks of the armor making it more unsightly. And yet the imperial guards cared not one bit about the suffering of the souls and resumed work on them. Any of the armor suits that failed to be fully operational were picked up by pulleys and dropped back into the vat to be melted down again so the process could start anew. 

“And you need me to lead these...things?” Odalia asked Emperor Belos once again. 

“Of course! But when your daughter goes to Earth, you won’t be able to see her without this.” 

One of his servants had a necklace on a small cushion. Belos thanked him for it and placed it around Odalia’s neck. “The necklace was crafted from a special type of salt that will make Amity and the human girl visible.” 

Odalia took the necklace in her hand and looked at it. “Very well; and how will I lead the armor?” 

“With the staff my master granted you, of course,” Belos responded, “you must collect enough magic in order to keep them under control.” 

More magic she thought. It could take forever to collect as much magic as she could, and the Day of Unity might already be over. While pondering, she shook her head deeply to Belos and turned to walk away. She was hoping for Nyarlathotep to give her advice on what she had to do, but he mysteriously disappeared without a trace. 

She returned home this time hearing someone else stir awake. Odalia tensed up instinctively and hid in the kitchen underneath the table. She held her breath hoping that she wouldn’t be found with the device. The staff glowed ominously sensing that magic was near. 

“Mom, is that you?” 

Odalia could recognize that voice as belonging to none other than her son Edric. It made some considerable sense because he would typically wake up at the time of day before his twin sister. Odalia was about to respond to him, but she saw that the staff was glowing a deeper shade. The thought crossed her mind: in order for her to control the armor suits, she needed magic. And lots of it. She did live in a house with four other residents...Belos didn’t say anything about where it had to come from. 

Odalia got up from the bottom of the table and tapped the top of the staff on its flat surface. “Yes, Edric, come in here.” 

Edric came in, hair disheveled and yawning deeply. He stretched his arms until there was a small, audible popping sound. “What’s going on?” He rubbed the tiredness from his eyes and caught a glimpse of the staff. “Oh, cool staff! Where did you get it?” 

Odalia did not respond to her son’s inquiries. Instead, she walked closer to him with the staff. Edric felt uncomfortable and tried to step back. This did not deter his mom, however. She held the staff’s head above Edric’s head. The spear glowed crimson red and began to “feed.” 

A vapor slipped out of the orifices of Edric’s face. They came together to create one green, thick puff of an amorphous, shapeless mass and was absorbed into the spear. Edric gagged and wobbled the more that the staff drew from him. He grabbed onto one of the chairs at the table to hold himself up whilst grasping at his throat with his other hand. The color in his skin began to fade away until nothing more than a paper-thin hue remained. 

“Mom, what are you doing?” 

He tried to reach towards his mother, but Odalia continued to hold the staff without issue. She stops draining Edric once he fell on the ground. 

“That might be enough for now,” Odalia said, “but to be sure, I will have to take you with me.”


	13. Of Witches and Rats

“I can’t believe we are about to do this.” 

Luz, with her hand still gripping tightly on Amity, was now starting to reconsider what she was about to do. Even if Hooty’s astral body did traverse through the different realms, he was still a magical creature foremost. Eda poured the apple blood into a mug and placed it in Luz’s open palm. Lilith did the same to Amity her cautiousness mirroring the human girl’s. 

“It will be fine,” Hypnos assured the girls, “I will be traveling with you as well.” 

Amity glanced at Luz her face still being red due to being close to her crush. “Can we really trust this man?” 

Luz gave her one of her goofy grins. “Don’t worry, Ams; he wouldn’t have informed us about Nyarlathotep and his plans if he was going to betray us.” 

Amity gasped internally. How she loved that girl and her stupid grins. Amity forced a smile on her face still nervous. “I believe you.” 

Hypnos took the bottle of apple blood and took large swigs out of it. 

“Hey, I didn’t say for you to drink the whole bottle!” Eda complained. However, she also couldn’t help but be impressed with how the Elder God could take the potency of the beverage with one shot. 

“Before we go, are there any more questions?” 

Luz thought about it and spoke up. “Hypnos?” 

Hypnos raised an eyebrow. “Yes? What is it, mortal?” 

“You said that this mysterious stranger came and defeated Nyarlathotep thousands of years ago.” 

“Aye, I did,” Hypnos confirmed. He threw the bottle of apple blood on the ground and it exploded into shards. “I assume that you would like to know who this person was?” 

Luz nodded her head. He already knew her curious questions before she could even deliver them. He chuckled again whilst flickering at the whiskers of his beard. 

“Why, it was a long-forgotten relative of yours, of course!” 

Through the petals of the poppies, he once more conjured up an image of the mysterious stranger. This time, the figure pulled back their hood. Underneath it was a girl roughly around the same age of Luz. Her hair was longer which often forced her to tuck the bangs away. Her eyes illuminated a hazel brown likely from her latest encounter with the Crawling Chaos. Luz continued to stare at the petals mesmerized until they flickered away and disappeared into thin air. 

“I should tell you this before we make our travel,” Hypnos announced, “there are some gates far beyond that house incomprehensible horrors.” 

“And if we end up crossing those gates?” Amity asked. 

“Pray to all space that you never have the misfortune of seeing what lies beyond in the abyss.” 

Hypnos’s astral body disappeared from the apple blood taking its full effect on him. Luz and Amity observed the green, foamy residue floating at the top of their mugs. Luz then set her eyes on Eda. Eda gave her the thumbs up. 

“You’re gonna do great, Luz,” Eda said. 

“Just don’t see things not meant for your eyes to see,” Lilith added. 

The two girls clicked their mugs together in a toast and took a deep gulp of the liquid. It was as Hooty described: unlike with how wine would taste once it aged, the apple blood was a nauseous, stomach churning abomination. They withdrew their cups to reveal that they both had “moustaches” on their top lips. 

“I feel like I am going to be sick,” Luz groaned. 

“Drink some more of it, Luz,” Eda said. She put her hand on her shoulder, “you’re almost there.” 

Amity’s vision blurred as her world was becoming topsy-turvy. She took another sip of the deadly concoction. Despite never ingesting apple blood before, the alcoholic beverage was already working on her delicate system and loosening her up. Amity gagged without provocation. Eda and King saw this and ran to get a bucket out of fear she would throw up the contents of not only the apple blood, but also likely any undigested bits of food she had eaten earlier. Instead of vomiting, gas rolled out of her mouth in an uncouth belch. 

“Are you sure Amity will be fine?” Lilith asked. 

“For now, she is,” Eda noted, “but I’ll probably need to make the two herbal tea once the effects wear off.” 

Luz fell on the ground from taking another swig from her mug. King ran over to her to check on her, only to be grabbed by the girl. She rubbed her fingers on his horns. 

“King, I never noticed you had long ears before,” Luz noted. She was fading in and out of consciousness. 

King squirmed underneath her tight grip and felt that his small frame was breaking. “Eda, hit her with a sleeping spell!” 

“She finished all the apple blood in the mug,” Eda noted, “just give it a second.” 

Amity wobbled on her legs. While skilled street performers could walk on stilts without issue, Amity’s legs were like those of wooden toothpicks that threatened to break. She made a half-gallop and fell along the side of the couch. She opened her half-shut eyes and glared at Lilith. Her cheeks grew tomato red once more. 

“Luz, I need to tell you something.” 

Lilith leaned back on the couch unsure of what to say; the poor girl had sunk so deep under the influence of the apple blood; she was now convinced that she was Luz. Amity slid her hand onto one of the seats close to Lilith. Lilith rolled back to get as far away from the Blight girl. 

“I know that I always came off as cruel, and bullied you for being a human, but I actually l-” 

Before she could say anything else, Amity fell into deep unconsciousness. Eda stared at Luz concluding that she had lost consciousness a few minutes before Amity did. She laughed. 

“She should count herself lucky that Luz didn’t get to hear what she was about to say.” 

The two sisters gathered the girls and appointed King with bringing out the bed mats. 

“Ah, why does it have to be me?” he complained. 

“We need to make sure that these two girls are safe,” Eda explained, “and you’re more likely to get away from any potential danger due to your smaller frame.” 

King grunted from the irritation of being reminded that he was a small boy. “Ugh...fine..fine.” 

“Amity? Amity, time to wake up.” 

Amity’s eyes shot open. What happened prior became nothing more than a blur to her. For all she knew, she was just at the Owl House talking about astral travel. She was handed some odd beverage and told to drink it, but then after that...poof. 

“Amity?” 

Luz was within length of Amity’s mouth and looking her over. Amity panicked and collapsed backward. Before she could say anything else, Amity felt something odd about her surroundings. 

“Where are we?” 

Amity and Luz were in another plane of existence. They were of a three-angled dimension filled with clouds and thick vapor. Yet more odd, there were multiple doors beyond the eyes could see. Through each door, creatures exited through them. Creatures of odder geometrical shapes and sizes. Maddening, indescribable, alien bodily structures described the creatures’ attributes. Through the black void, their tentacle appendages writhed through the darkness and vanished. 

“Oh, glad you finally woke up,” a voice proclaimed. 

They turned to see that Hypnos was there in the void alongside them. “Odd, isn’t it?” 

“I imagine that these creatures come to the Boiling Isles all the time,” Luz hypothesized. 

“Well, the Isles are a boiling point after all,” Hypnos said. 

Luz stared at her hands with further understanding. Like Hypnos, her skin was now a translucent hue. “And this is my soul?” 

“Indeed; your physical bodies are snuggly tucked away back in your dimension. Now, follow me.” 

The two girls followed the Lord of Dreams through the misty vapor and towards the doors. Each door led to new dimensions. It struck the girls that the monsters they were witnessing migrating between worlds likely had different, comprehensible shapes native to their homes. Some doors grew darker and were engulfed by the blackness of the void. 

“What happens to those doors that disappear?” Amity inquired. 

“It means that the Outer Gods had breached those worlds and consumed their realities,” Hypnos answered. “Those worlds are now forever dead and decay once every living thing is driven to extinction.” 

Luz frowned. “Are you suggesting that this would one day become the fate of the Earth?” 

“Do you really think the universe would care if your world ceased to be?” Hypnos asked “we are all insignificant specks in the grander scheme of things; once we are no more, the universe would have little reason to care.” 

Luz’s stare faltered. With the bluntness of his answer, she felt no further need to probe him for more explanations. At any time, at any year, the Earth -- and the demon realm for that matter – will be eaten by one of the unknowable Outer Gods and there was nothing her wild magic could do to stop this inevitable reality. At the corner of her eye, Luz saw a door unlike all the other doors upon doors they had encountered. An exceedingly ancient door made of petrified cedar. 

Luz’s soul floated towards the door. Amity was busy having a conversation with Hypnos she barely noticed that Luz was no longer following them. Amity glanced behind her back, her eyes widening in horror. “Luz, what are you doing?” 

Luz grasped the knob on the door with her right hand when Amity floated over. “Hypnos said to not go off on your own.” 

Luz saw ancient encryptions on the door’s frame. “Hey, this is written in Egyptian hieroglyphics.” 

Amity squinted her eyes. “What is that? Some human thing?” 

“Oh, that’s right you wouldn’t know what that was,” Luz noted, “just think of them as writing letters, but they use pictures instead.” 

The old gods of Ancient Egypt decorated the top of the door’s frame. Ra held the sun between his hands whilst a serpent was on his heel. The steady process of mummification was also illustrated in full detail. Against her better judgment, Luz turned the knob counterclockwise until she heard a click. 

“Luz, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Amity said. 

The door swung open and let out a rancid smell of inexplicable nature. Luz did not let that deter her, and she floated in. Amity fidgeted contemplating whether to follow her or Hypnos. Her heart was overtaking her rational brain and became the victor. Amity sighed and levitated. 

“Wait for me, Luz!” 

The large size of the door paled in comparison to the room. It had a vast space to it. A small torch on the ceiling illuminated the dimension. Throughout the large space, there was an arrangement of shelves more than the eyes can see. From what little they could figure out; each shelf was dated back during certain periods of unrecorded history. Luz placed her feet on the ground and walked towards one of the shelves. 

“Look, there’s something there.” 

Luz knelt and withdrew the object. Amity floated over to Luz to look at it as well. 

“It’s some rag doll,” Amity observed, “made of some kind of grain.” 

They levitated down the row of shelves finding more possessions: clothing; toys; ancient books and other oddities. Luz noticed a wand as being one of the collectibles on the farthest side of the shelves. Luz grabbed it to better inspect it. “It’s similar to the ones you get back on the Isles.” 

Amity took the wand to give her opinion. “It doesn’t only look like one, it exactly did come from the Isles; it feels like it was crafted from one of our trees.” 

“If it was from the Isles, then that would mean” 

The realization became crystal clear to the two girls: all of the artifacts placed on the endless shelves came from the Boiling Isles. Judging by the withered appearance, many of the objects littering the dimension were infinitely older than ones that could reasonably be interpreted as being more relatively recent. 

“No one that we know could have created this world to act as storage,” Luz noted. 

“Except for Nyarlathotep,” Amity added. 

Luz turned to leave, but she noticed something additional on the eldritch shelves. A piece of a horn. She seized it with her fingers and held it in front of her face. Bleached white; likely half a thousand years old at that. The horn had a noticeable crack in it. From what it appeared, the horn was ripped off starting from a tear towards the base of the appendage. “Amity, come look at this.” 

She passed the artifact to Amity. Amity too brought it close to her eyes and took note of the unusual way that the horn was ripped off. She held her thumb and index finger against her chin and tapped it. “That is pretty funny.” 

“What is?” Luz asked. 

“A broken horn,” Amity emphasized, “who else do we know has a horn missing?” 

“Yeah, that’s true,” Luz confirmed, “the only person I know that has a broken horn is King.” 

“Did King ever say how he broke his horn?” 

Luz shook her head. “No, the subject of what happened to his horn never came up before.” Luz placed the horn in her pocket. “It’s like he never noticed that he had one.” 

It had been months since Luz entered the demon realm and became the apprentice of the Owl Lady. She knew nearly everything about the little dog-sized demon. She knew what his interests were; what his favorite foods were; his megalomaniacal designs. But not once did King ever mention the whereabouts of his missing horn. True, perhaps King was in some accident prior to Luz becoming a permanent addition to the Isles, or – worse yet – he could have been attacked and the assailant tore off his horn. Whatever the reason, King was not offering any answers. At the back of Luz’s mind, the more sensible answer became perfectly frank: King could easily have forgotten the circumstances of his missing horn. 

“I am convinced that this is King’s horn,” Luz declared, “we need to get this back to him so it could jog his memory.” 

“You guys!” 

The two girls instantly saw Hypnos. His round, large black eyes had an odd, alluring trance to them. His bushy eyebrows descended with a scowl. “I told you guys to not go off.” 

“We’re sorry, Hypnos,” Luz said with sadness in her voice, “but we ended up finding this dimension.” 

“Yes, I can understand your curiosity very well: every time Nyarlathotep laid waste to the Isles, he would always collect souvenirs from the ashes of the villages he destroyed. He considered them to be enough for “proper sacrifices”.” 

Luz drew into her pocket and slipped the horn out. “Amity and I think that King is the rightful owner of this horn piece.” 

Hypnos scratched his beard. “I believe so...you are intending on having him get it back?” 

“He doesn’t remember what happened to his horn, so I think this could get his memory back.” 

Before he responded, there was a flurry of a messy, thick mass of hair. It jumped onto Luz’s arm and gripped its teeth on the horn fragment. Sweat began to form on Luz’s forehead. 

“AH! Rat! Rat!!” 

Sure enough, it was an unshapely, horrid, rodent that was crawling on Luz’s arm. But ratkind paled in comparison to this beast. A small, human head was in place of an ordinary rat head. Its hands were those of a tiny baby topped with ugly, black claws filled with evil intent. The rat stared at the human girl for a split-second to sample her fear before bucking down the arm, and heading towards the hem of her shirt, before escaping with its prize. 

“What the heck was that!?” Luz shrieked. She floated over to Amity and hid behind her. Amity’s cheeks and skin tone turned crimson red. She felt her translucent heart beat at a fast rhythm again. She immediately shook herself out of it. 

“It has the horn! Get it!” 

They chased after the rat fiend with Hypnos hardly keeping up. More of those bizarre beasts exited through the portals of the doors. The three were momentarily blocked by the tentacled, multi-eyed eldritch beings, and yet, the rat giddily bounced on the backs of these same creatures and walked in the void with a strut. 

“I think it’s heading for the Earth,” Luz yelled. 

The rat stopped at one of the doors. The door slowly undid its hinges. From their position, they saw a blue marble. Amity tried to memorize what little she saw of the marble and turned to look at Luz. “Is that the Earth, I take it?” 

“Yes, I can see the continents from here,” Luz noted. 

The door opened wide enough for the rat to squeeze its sickly body through it. Luz and Amity darted towards the door whilst trying to understand how to control their spiritual forms. The rat sensed them approaching and looked at them. It gave an inhumanly wide grin exposing its rows of teeth. It then flicked its tail and jumped through the portal. 

“Blasted rat!” Luz screamed. 

Once the portal to the Earth was completely within view, Luz jumped into it headfirst. Amity held her hands up to the sides of her face. “Wait for me, Luz!!” 

Hypnos rolled his eyes. “Teenagers always jumping into things without thinking.” 

Hypnos bolted after the flustered Blight girl and slammed the door shut. 

Back on the Boiling Isles, the physical bodies of Amity and Luz were placed on a bed mat. Lilith and Eda looked over them in silence. King was still poking Hooty’s unconscious body with a stick. 

“You did that for five hours, King,” Eda complained, “he’s gone.” 

“I am almost kind of jealous, really,” King said, “if Hooty is really surfing through planes of existence right now, I would’ve taken the apple blood too.” 

“For what reason?” Lilith asked. 

“So I could rule over all dimensions,” King boasted, “all creation will cower before me!” 

King laughed, but his laughter came out as petite chuckles. 

“Oh, yes, I am sure creation will be scared of you,” Eda snickered and rolling her eyes. 

Lilith knelt down to better inspect Eda’s apprentice. “Are you sure she will...be well when she gets back?” 

“Luz is a tough girl, sis. I am completely confident that our Luz – and her girlfriend – will return in one piece.” 

“I hope so,” Lilith lamented, “I still hadn’t made amends with her since...well, you know.” 

Eda understood. “Sis, it had been likely months now since that incident happens; Luz isn’t the type of person to hold grudges.” 

Lilith went to say something only to be disrupted by a sudden sound. “Did you two hear that?” 

King shrugged. “Must be Bat Queen’s son tearing up the basement again.” 

Lilith shook her head. “No, that sounded more lik-” 

BAM!! 

The front door to the house was kicked down by a battering ram. Eda noticed a sigil on it and sighed in irritation. “For Titan’s sake, it’s the Emperor’s Coven.” 

“They probably found out that Hooty was incapacitated,” King replied. 

King ran to collect his toys and dashed back into the room. “Minions! Barricade us!” 

He tossed some of the stuffed animals towards the door, but they plopped on the ground. Eda and Lilith both gave a disappointed glare at King. King crossed his arms and pouted. “Well, I don’t see you doing anything to help.” 

Four of the imperial guards broke their way into the house holding staffs laced with electrical wires. They cornered the three inhabitants with little difficulty and held them there. 

“Any slight movement, and you will be given a full electrical shock in accordance to the law,” one of the imperial guards threatened. 

Lilith inhaled and exhaled. “If the Emperor had sent you because of some bounty on my head, please remove me and leave the other two alone.” 

One of the imperial guards scratched the bottom of his helmet. “50,000 snails is your worth.” He mumbled contemplating on whether or not to take up the offer. 

“Enough.” 

A hooded figure in a golden mask entered through the door and waved his hand to signal for his men to lower their weapons. “It is such an occasion of meeting you, Owl Lady.” 

“What do you want?” Eda demanded. 

She got down on the floor and covered the two girls. “If you are trying to get either of them, you will over my cold, dead, body!” 

“We do not want anything that ghastly,” the spy replied, “I have informed Lord Belos of your encounter with one of the gods to have the human girl and her friend traverse the planes.” 

“Well, you are too late,” King noted, “the two are almost to Earth as we speak.” 

The spy stared at the two girls’ sleeping bodies. “Please, the Emperor demands an audience with you two.” 

Eda shook her head. “Never; I ain’t havin’ any of that with the “Emperor”.” 

“You heard the man!” another imperial guard yelled. 

He charged his staff and showed off the sparks of it to the grey-haired lady. “I love this job!” 

The spy clutched his staff and withdrew it from his hand. The guard backed up upon seeing that the tables had turned on him. He held up his hands to protect himself. “Sir, what are you?” 

The spy shocked the guard with the full force of the staff. Electricity surged through his body until he collapsed on the ground adjacent to the girls. The remaining guards, undeterred, held up their weapons. Two came from the side but were quickly outmaneuvered. The masked man delivered another surge of electricity to the second guard. The other one, he forcibly pried the weapon from his hands and decked him in the face. The mask of the imperial guard flew off revealing that he was a boar-like creature underneath. He stared at the final guard who turned heel and made a break for the door. 

The masked man grabbed the helmet of the downed boar man and pitched it with strategic precision. It collided with the back of the skull with the other guard. He collapsed to the ground with a thud. With the threat taken care of, the masked man resumed his duty. Eda and the others were speechless. 

“What in the..” Eda said. 

“I am well aware of what Belos has in store for the Isles and the Earth.” He wiped some dirt away from his cloak. “Please assist me in taking down Belos.” 

“How can we trust you?” King asked, “sure, you beat the stuffing out of those guys, but you would probably get the drop on us.” 

He looked at Amity for a minute. “There are people that I care for if you are willing to indulge.” 

Eda and Lilith gave understanding looks. “Fine,” Eda said. 

“I will pretend to cuff you three and will present you as my prisoners, just follow my lead.”


	14. Return to the Emperor's Coven

"Lord Belos, the Owl Lady and her acquaintances have arrived."

The entrance to Belos' throne room opened widely. The Owl Spy came in first accompanied by Eda, Lilith, and King. They wore heavy shackles on their ankles (but it proved to be more cumbersome for King due to his tiny body), and cuffs were fixed on their wrists. To add salt to the injury, Eda and Lilith's fingers had additional bindings so they would not attempt to draw circles in the air.

Emperor Belos was slouched in his throne, his right hand holding up his forehead. The Titan's heart once again was beating, but now it was a more noticeable tremor to it. Belos exhaled sharply and then deeply exhaled the air from his lungs. It had become a very circulated fact that Belos had seen better days. Somewhere in his fifty-year reign of the Boiling Isles, his health declined. With no heirs known either legitimately or otherwise, Death may as well knock on his door one of these days. Belos clutched at his chest from the sudden sensation of a deathly cough violently scratch its way up his airbags. The most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles wheezed a squeaking tune. His chest convulsed a few times. The Owl Spy and the guards carrying the prisoners stood in place pondering if he would cough up a lung or two.

Kikimora stood at the left side of Belos' throne. She was informed of her lord's coughing fits earlier and never took her eyes off him. When she heard the spy say that the Owl Lady had been captured, that was the one time that she did direct her attention from Belos. There Eda was: rather than being cursed into her monstrous, owl-like form, Eda was back to her normal appearance from her grayish-wild hairstyle to her clothes. Kikimora was conflicted: she never denounced Belos as a liar or for being incorrect. But here was the Owl Lady back as her own treacherous self. Seeing her this way for the first time made Kikimora start to ponder her master's claims of being the Titan's representative. But even humoring the idea that Belos was a fraud filled her with a sudden dread that Belos could be reading her thoughts at that moment. Oh, Titan, what would he do to her for her lack of belief? There were many ways for witches and demons to die in different, creative ways.

Belos lifted his head sluggishly in a sideways glance at the prisoners. His exposed blue eye stared at them to study them. "It is such a pleasure being in the presence of you, Owl Lady."

Eda scoffed. "That makes one of us."

Belos ignored her snark and inspected Lilith again. "The Prodigal Child returns as well?"

"Enough with your flimsy peppering of words, what do you want from us?" Lilith demanded.

Belos sighed. "You know that only the most qualified of witches can join my coven?"

Lilith nodded. True, twenty odd years ago, joining the Emperor's Coven was Lilith's ambition for a long, long time. A dream that she shared with her younger sister, at least until that awful, terrible, reprehensible day she decided to curse her sister to give herself a better chance at narrowing her way to victory. A curse that was supposed to last for a day instead made Eda's existence miserable, and ostracized her from witch society. Lilith's bottom lip quivered from the acknowledgment Lilith placed such a heavy load on her sister's shoulders all for a meaningless position due to Belos lying to her. From the deepest, darkest pits, a fire was raging.

"I made my decision to defect, Lord Belos," Lilith announced with conviction.

Belos was speechless at first likely to digest the words his former servant was spieling out. "And I am sure you know what becomes of witches bereft of a coven?"

Like he alluded to her back when she captured her sister the first time, Belos lifted his staff and directed it towards the murals comprised of painted, stained glass. While Lilith anticipated this the moment she betrayed the Emperor, the thought of being on the receiving end of the most cruel and unusual of punishments in accordance to the Isles did make her step back on her confidence for a smidge.

"If it means atoning for all the horrible things you made me do in your name, I will accept that. But please, spare Edalyn and her dog's lives. As well as Luz's."

As she spoke, two imperial guards came in holding the unconscious bodies of the two girls. The girls were being carried the guard's stout shoulders. The girls' arms loosely swayed back and forth behind the backs of the guards. They were placed on the ground with minimal gentleness. Belos stood from his throne and knelt down to further inspect the girls. With his staff, he tapped the limbs of the girls and then their backs. He pressed his index finger and thumb on the chin of his mask inquisitively.

"By the Titan, these two girls actually managed to do it."

Eda smirked. She did have some shred of doubt that Luz may have failed and that the likelihood of her becoming braindead as a result of the brew did concern her, but she also knew that Luz could pull it off. It gave her all the more reason to be proud that she was Luz's mentor.

"Yeah, that's right Belos," she bragged, "and when she gets the book, we will do everything in our power to keep you from getting your grubby hands on that book!"

"Ho, oh!" Emperor Belos retorted "a most charming dream, but tis be the nature."

Belos slammed his staff on the ground and returned to his throne. There was a side door behind the mighty throne of Belos which creaked itself open. Out from it walked Odalia Blight holding the staff she was entrusted with by Nyarlathotep. It was made of the same breed of tree most witches of the Boiling Isles own, but instead of a palisman adorned on the top, there was a gem which glittered in the light. A large, ruby gemstone accompanied with a low murmuring sound. Befitting of her social status, Odalia had a haughty grin from ear to ear. Odalia stepped aside to allow a few more of the imperial guards to exit.

"Well, what have we here? Enemies, traitors, and lowly demons."

Eda tilted her head. "You...one of the Blights I assume?"

"Of course, darling," Odalia bragged, her hand squarely on her breast. "One of the most esteemed, exquisite, and powerful of the Boiling Isles."

She brags a lot about her bloodline, Eda thought to herself. Sure, Eda would tend to think of herself in high regard, but Odalia was taking it leagues above. She sensed a small bit of tension in the air: the Owl Spy had disappeared from the room the instant that Odalia strolled her way in acting top class.

"Yeah, yeah, go suck a griffin egg," Eda groaned, "I still remember all the bragging you did back at Hexside."

Odalia smirked. "At the least I didn't become a criminal."

Odalia tilted her head back and laughed like a noblewoman. For whatever reason, Eda felt the growing urge to punch the lady over and over until she was an unidentifiable pulp. One that not even the dark arts could ever hope to revitalize.

"Wait, you are a part of the coven now?" Lilith asked.

"Indeed, I am," Odalia boasted.

"How? I could have sworn that you lost the competition of joining the coven years ago. As much as I hate the Emperor, at the least he always remained consistent on the qualifications to join the coven. I mean, that is the very reason we have the coven system."

"I am very aware of my lack of qualifications, but I was granted audience with Lord Belos, and he entrusted me with acting on his will."

Odalia towered above her daughter's body. From the way she was fixed, Eda was unable to read any emotion on her face. Odalia then turned away from her daughter, returning her accusatory glare at the Owl Lady. "Is this the nature of being on the run; scouting people into your ranks?"

"Amity chose of her own volition to help Luz acquire the book," Eda clarified, "maybe you do not understand your daughter as much as you'd like to think?"

"You and your human pest have been nothing but a thorn in the side of my family," Odalia yelled, "perverted thoughts spreading rampant, disrupting the bloodline."

"That is absurd; Amity was a girl who was always tired of the way that you were restricting her freedoms. Instead, what do you want her to do? Study. Work hard. Study some more. You try to control every aspect of her life including those that she hanged out with. And yet once you get off your high horse, you do not understand why your daughter is having her rebel stage now? It's because you are trying to mold her into being just like you. You keep on going on and on about bloodline this, bloodline that...maybe you can take one second to think about what your daughter actually wants instead of making decisions for her?"

Odalia held the staff firmly between her eyes and loudly ground her teeth. "She is not my daughter; she made up her own mind to follow an inferior ape, so I now acknowledge that I have two older children who will listen to every word I say and continue down the right path of making our family name immortal."

Odalia clapped her hands and brought Edric out. The Owl House residents almost fainted from what they had seen: Edric was emaciated and skinnier than usual. His skin was now paper-thin and very suspect to bruising easily. Edric's eyes became small, golden pupils because of their sunken position. Odalia took the liberty of dressing her son for the day in his casual clothing, but the clothes were slipping off him because of his sudden thinness. Edric's legs lacked enough muscle to protect the bones from snapping like a pair of chopsticks. New waves of pain washed over the young witch with every step he took.

"What have you done to him?" Eda asked horrified.

"The staff that I was given requires magic to fuel it...an excessive amount if you so please."

Odalia held the staff in front of Edric and activated it. A swirling cloud appeared in the gemstone and began to draw once more on Edric's magic. Edric howled in excruciating agony the sort of pain that could rip a person inside out. Green vapor filtered through his body orifices and collected inside the gemstone. Edric dropped on his knees the surge of affliction still flowing through his veins. He looked up at his mother before a whooping cough manifested. At certain intervals, Eda and the others could catch glimpses of his stomach and chest during his fits; his rib cage was poking against the flaps of skin.

Lilith clenched her teeth. "Can't you see that you are putting your own son in such pain and for what cost?"

"He is making the Blight family proud immortal," Odalia simply said with a cold flair in her explanation, "small sacrifices need to be made, and my son is more than worthy of the title."

"From the looks of it, your son is barely hanging on by a thread," Eda interjected, "what if you kill him?"

"My son will provide the way of the Blight family name becoming renowned and feared by all of creation; the powers that be – the Titan, or perhaps one of the greater gods – will greatly reward him."

Two guards came into the throne room and each individually held the thrashing arms of Emira Blight. She reared herself up to take a swinging kick at her kidnappers, but it was no use. Her struggles subsided upon catching sight of her twin brother. "Edric!?"

The guards let her go at that moment. Without much prompt, Emira raced towards her brother and clutched his head in her hand. "Speak to me, please!"

Edric weakly opened his eyes to see tears running down his twin sister's face. She tried to fight back the treacherous tears with all her might, but her throat was growing larger from her increasing despair. "Mom, can't you see that you are sucking him dry?!"

The gemstone's inherent ability of stealing magic was greater than that of the basilisk that infiltrated Hexside months ago and nearly drained all the students of their magic. Emira held her face over Edric's her tears now falling on his. He stared into the matching eyes of his sister for a long time likely to say whatever was at the top of his head, but the agonizing pain was preventing him from performing what amounted to a simple task.

Eda and Lilith attempted to wiggle their fingers out of their restraints. "Odalia, you have gone too far, you have to be stopped!" Lilith proclaimed.

Odalia ignored them and looked at the staff again. It murmured the same low drone it always did. Before the prisoners, Odalia conducted a conversation with the staff. There were a few nods implicating a mutual understanding and deal-making. She studied Emira and took a few glances at the magic staff. "The staff is still unsatisfied."

Odalia pointed to Emira. "Once your brother had served his use, you shall be the next one that the staff consumes."

Emira shook violently. "Mom, you've become insane!"

Odalia flicked her hand to the guards. "Keep Emira imprisoned here; once I lead the army on the Earth realm, I will return to offer more sacrifices to it for Belos' victory."

The imperial guards surrounded the green-haired teenage girl. At any time, Emira would be more than willing to administer a thorough beat down on her enemies, but she was sorely outnumbered. They came down on her in a frenzy and stole away the girl. They disappeared behind the second door her screams fading away the further they ran. Belos stood up and raised his arms.

"Now with that settled, Miss Blight, you have the honors of enacting the Day of Unity!"

Odalia obeyed and went to walk back to the other room. She momentarily stopped to glance at Edric, again what she was really feeling in that moment being uncertain, and exited the throne room. Eda, Lilith, and King were forcibly grabbed as well and were being walked out.

"So, you are going to execute us?" King asked.

"My furry friend, no, this is not the Titan's will. After all, how else will you enjoy the experience of the Day of Unity?"

Lilith shook her cuffs. "For years, you have told us without fail of this Day of Unity, but you never told us what it entailed. So, before you condemn me, please enlighten me."

"That's the old Lilith I remember," Belos said in a disconcerting tone.

"Yeah, and why do you have such interest in the Earth?" Eda asked "you could have visited as many times that you wanted now that you have the portal door in your possession."

While Belos' true face was always concealed behind a mask, it was relatively easy to imagine that he was smiling malevolently.

"I have a score to settle with someone that you may or may not know," he stated, "I will leave it as a surprise."

Eda, Lilith, and King were marched out of the throne room to the dungeon of the coven. Alone with his thoughts, Belos cackled in ecstasy despite his wheezing cough.

"The Day of Unity is finally upon us! Go, go my servants into the human realm! Go and slaughter all in your path! Reduce their cities to rubble! Leave not one stone unturned! Darken their skies and poison their lands! Reduce their world to ashes and blow those ashes into the farthest reaches of space! By the name of the Titan, the Earth will be laid to waste, never to be remembered or missed."


	15. An Offer You Can't Refuse

The next day, Hexside opened its doors to begin the school day. Willow was once again at her locker and was withdrawing some of her class books. Gus walked down the hallway and casually glared at the other students. Seeing Willow, he galloped over to her. 

“Morning, Willow,” he said. 

Willow smiled. “Good morning.” 

Before he could say anything further, Gus glanced around as if looking for something. “Hey, where’s Luz?” He looked over at the popular clique of girls. “Come to think of it, where’s Amity?” 

“I think it was Eda who got into contact with me about some kind of experiment the two were doing. She said that they would be gone for at least a day or two at worse.” 

Gus’ eyebrow raised in curiosity. “The two of them doing an experiment together?” 

Given how he knew about Amity having feelings for the human girl, one side of him couldn’t help but wonder if she was perhaps experimenting around with chemicals to create the ultimate love potion to give to Luz. He quickly shook that idea from his mind. Sure, one could not deny that Amity was head over heels for Luz, but she wasn’t the type of witch who would play with someone’s free will in that fashion. Even if it pained her for Luz to be seemingly ignorant of her feelings, it would equally pain her to force her to love her. 

Skara and the popular girls caught sight of the two and walked over to them. Typically, seeing the popular kids approaching the “misfits” of the school’s social system would otherwise be a bad omen (befitting the Social Darwinism of the world), but Willow and Gus greeted them with little anxiety. 

“Hey, guys,” Skara said, “you guys doing good?” 

“Yes, we are,” Willow said, “we saw your performance on Penstagram last night, it was really good.” 

“Aw, thanks!” Skara proclaimed. “The girls and I were going to go camping out and we thought if you’d like to come?” 

Willow scratched her chin in deep thought. “I could use the occasion to better my talents.” 

It was a bizarre sight. At best, the popular clique of girls would voluntarily grace the two with quick glances, but now, they were having civil conversations with them. It started shortly after the Banshees won against Luz and her friends, but they were graceful enough to compliment Luz and Willow for their teamwork. They would have loved having them on their team too, but Boscha, as the team leader, quickly shut that down. But with the three-eyed girl having been missing for roughly a few weeks, that created enough of a schism that they ingratiated themselves with Luz and the others. With Boscha out of the picture, the girls revealed themselves as not sharing the same malice. One could say that they would be total sweethearts to the trio of misfits if Boscha did not exist. 

“So, you will come?” Skara asked. 

“I will keep it mind,” Willow replied, “but I appreciate the offer.” 

Principal Bump sat at his desk troubled. He tapped his bony fingers on his desk in an effort of figuring out what he could do. He had broken out in a cold sweat with the hairs on his arms and legs sticking up. Starting a few weeks ago, Bump could sense something amiss in the Boiling Isles. An indescribable, inhumane calamity was about to happen, but he was uncertain when it would come. He found himself gawking at the clock on the wall in a daze. 

“Calm down, old man,” he said to himself, “maybe in the few hundred years I may’ve misinterpreted the signs.” 

He picked himself out of his chair and opened the door to his office. Goggling around, things continued to appear to be of order at the school. Relieved, Principal Bump stepped out of the door and trudged down the hall. He ended up seeing the Abomination Teacher talking with another teacher. 

“Aw, Principal Bump! What is the occasion?” 

“Oh, nothing,” Principal Bump answered, “I was actually on my way to the library.” 

Principal Bump turned to leave. “You seem to have a lot on your mind.” 

Principal Bump chuckled and placed his hand behind the back of his head. “Oh, it’s just about this year’s curriculum is all.” 

The Abomination Teacher glared at him. “What about it?” 

Principal Bump staggered for answers. “Uh...something about the...lunch choices?” He picked up the pace without staring at the teacher again. “I’ll announce it later.” 

The Abomination Teacher shrugged and head his way down the opposite side of the hall. Principal Bump arrived in the library already seeing that a few students were there to study or conduct research. He advanced towards the chief librarian’s desk. The librarian was an aged turtle with glasses and chains to keep them from falling down. 

“Ah, Principal Bump,” she said, “what brings you here?” 

He had a stern look on his face. “I am sure that you know why I am here.” 

As she was a turtle, the reptile took longer time to digest the brevity of the situation and slowly pushed herself out of her chair. “Follow me.” 

Principal Bump groaned to himself, but he decided to follow the ancient beast anyway. The librarian wobbled on her short, stubby legs and clutched her cane to keep herself from falling on the ground. One instance, she fell on her back and remained in that defenseless state for a whole day. “Is your week going good?” 

“Oh, it is,” Principal Bump lied, “just that I feel that some horrible force of evil is going to arrive at any minute as we speak.” 

“Right, I completely understand,” the turtle replied, “steamed roots gives me gas.” 

The turtle neared a book case and paused for a moment. Her heavy beak opened and closed. The loose skin on her arm vibrated when she reached for one of the books. Her claws withdrew a book, and she slid it out between two other books. 

“Oh, would you look at that?” she asked “it’s the story of Otabin. Have you ever read it?” 

Principal Bump face palmed. “Yes, I have; 65 years ago.” He stomped his foot impatiently. “Please, just hurry.” 

“I’m going as far as I can,” she interjected. 

Once the book was removed from its shelf, the ground shook. The middle of the case descended to reveal a secret door behind it. The turtle librarian lifted her finger in the air and swirled it. Fire formed above her finger to which she cast it into the entrance. The fire was that of a living creature with a mind of its own. It danced in the darkness of the secret room and jumped onto a series of torches. It gracefully plopped itself over the tops of the torches and lit them. 

“Oh, I remember that it was lunch time,” the turtle librarian announced, “I’m going to head back; if you need anything, call me.” 

“I will, thank you kindly,” Principal Bump replied. “Having steamed cabbage again?” 

The librarian chuckled. “It either eats me or I eat it.” 

She turned around to reveal the faded colors on the back of her shell. Much like Bump, she was an old soul in the Boiling Isles. So old enough, in fact, the library was built over her. The library was her home; she was familiar with every scrap of information native to the demon realm but ironically was unfamiliar with what happened outside of her sanctuary. 

Principal Bump followed the lit torches down the hidden room. Cobwebs lined the wall and floors of the ancient halls. Taking a left, Principal Bump came upon a room containing ancient objects and artifacts. Spears and clubs. Torture devices such as ones designed to rip off fingernails or iron maidens. Even the bones of prehistoric anomalies alongside cases of animals forever asleep in jars filled with an entombing substance. Claws and teeth on shelves and basilisks and bowls meant to collect the contaminated blood of the victims of the basilisk’s deadly bite. 

“I see that the turtle didn’t tidy this place up in years,” Principal Bump noted. 

He skewered the room for the item of his inquiry. In the right side of the room was a desk made out of a petrified wood. Curious, he walked over and sat down on the chair. The splinters were poking into Principal Bump’s rear. He bit his tongue to keep from hissing. He sat there for a few seconds to allow the pain to fizzle out. Opening a drawer, Principal Bump allowed a slight smirk. He reached his hand into the drawer to obtain the object. 

It was a book of indescribable size. The cover of the book possessed a bumpy, leather texture of some unknown material. Principal Bump held it with both of his hands and took a deep breath. “The Necronomicon; I never thought in my lifetime that I would face this book again.” 

The Necronomicon; an ancient, dreaded piece of literature detailing information that no one – not mankind, or witch kind – should know. Information of the gods of old and where they once trekked and where they will once more. Spells of how to raise the dead and of essential salts. This book, baptized in a dark, malevolent evil, was one of a few copies of the original iteration of the book that was made thousands of years ago by the savior of the Boiling Isles when she sensed that Nyarlathotep could likely return to the Isles to bring it back to its days of chaos. 

He slipped the book into his cloak’s pocket and turned to leave the macabre room. He had feared the worst: the very idea that someone or something managed to find his copy of the Necronomicon and intend on using it for their own nefarious purposes unsettled him greatly. As far as he was concerned, he could have sworn that other copies of the decrepit texts were purged during the time of the Savage Ages. The hooded figure had appointed several disciples with taking copies of the Necronomicon and distributing them to the furthest regions of the Boiling Isles. Generation after generation, witches passed down the task of protecting a copy of the book and taught the next generation of the dark magic. 

As Principal Bump traversed down the hall, the school day was about to begin. Once more, everything seemed to be running smoothly, but something about it was growing unsettling. Everything was going too perfectly. Principal Bump’s trudging ceased to a stop. 

Voom. Voom...voom.. 

A tremor shook the foundations of the school threatening to collapse. Cracks formed on the ceiling. Powdery balls sprinkled down accompanied by larger chunks of the ceiling caving in. Debris fell from the ceiling in the direction of some of the students. 

“Look out!” Principal Bump yelled. 

He swirled his finger and a green aura came out of his fingertip. Before the debris could fall on a group of students, he caught it with a shield made of the same aura. “Get out from under it before I lose grip of it!” 

The students obeyed and fled. With them gone, Principal Bump dropped the piece of the ceiling, shattering it on the floor. At first relieved, from the corner of his eye, series of cracks formed on the ceiling. He repeated the magical spell, temporarily using it as a glue to hold the ceiling for as long as his elderly body could muster. 

“Where did that quake come from?” Gus yelled. 

“I have no idea,” Willow replied, “we may have to evacuate the school to avoid being buried alive.” 

A blast of magic blew the entrance of the school off its hinges. The figure was initially unrecognizable from the thick smoke, but some students could vaguely make out who it was.” 

“Hello, all! Your star has arrived!” 

That voice. That bossy, demanding, condescending voice. The type of voice that would pierce your brain and throw you through the wringer. The smoke clearing away only made it more evident who it was. 

“Boscha?” Skara announced. “Girl, where have you been?” 

Boscha staggered herself into the school with her crutches. “Yeah, it’s me.” 

She locked her three eyes on Willow. “Hello again, half-a-witch.” 

Unnerved by the deathly coldness of her words, Willow spoke up. “Now Boscha, I want you to know that I had no intention of breaking your leg.” 

Boscha held one of her crutches up and pointed it at her. “I don’t need any explanation from the likes of you.” 

Willow noticed someone standing beside Boscha, a man she did not recognize. A tall man, roughly around six feet, and short black hair and a finely groomed mustache. He wore a classy uniform comprised of a dark black color. He had a vastness to him, most assuredly originating from his eyes. He struck Willow as a man who was always inquisitive and knowledgeable. He held out his hand to the three-eyed girl. 

“Wait, dear protégé, remember what I told you.” 

Boscha glared at him. “But you promised me that you’d help me get revenge on Willow.” 

“There will come a time for that, I assure you, but may I remind you that we are here for one thing in particular?” 

Boscha sighed. “Fine.” 

Principal Bump took out a whistle and blew it. Within minutes, the guards arrived to detain the two. Principal Bump then ran in the opposite direction to avoid confrontation. The tall man chuckled in his monotonous tone and walked forward. He moved around gracefully like a swan his feet barely touching the ground. He hummed a tune to himself when the first guard made a grab at him. The man lifted his finger to the ceiling and without the guard having time to respond, he levitated the man and held him in the air for a few seconds. 

“I apologize for the abruptness of my arrival, but I have an important date with your principal, so...” 

He snapped his fingers and pitched the guard towards the lockers. The lockers shifted and contorted by the time the guard hit them. Instead of a hard metal, they were replaced with a clay-like substance. He sank deeper into the wet, squishy goo until only his chest and face stuck out. The man snapped his fingers again and returned the texture of the lockers to their metallic selves. The guard grunted and pulled but he was deeply wedged in the lockers. 

He continued his uninterrupted waltz down the halls casually lifting the guards into the air and smashing them together to make them unconscious. The tall man continued to chuckle in the likeness of a hyena whilst carelessly pummeling legions of guards and tossing them into a pile. Making his way down the hall, he turned to look at his apprentice. 

“Make sure that no one leaves until I have received what I wanted.” He could see that Principal Bump boarded himself in his office. “This could take a while.” 

Boscha nodded and held her crutch out to direct the students. She forces them to huddle in the halls and demands them to sit. “I have been gone for a long time, you know.” 

She eyed her classmates to see if they would respond. “I cannot even begin to think this is the same school; I have been away for a long time, but with my mentor’s help, I can bring the school back to its glory days.” 

She noticed her rival and walked over to her to get down on her level. “Don’t think that the moment he allows me to enact my revenge that I will go easy on you.” 

“What is it that you are suggesting, Boscha?” Willow asked. The half-witch spoke in a tone of utter defiance mixed in with annoyance. In some ways, she practically celebrated when she first heard that Boscha was missing. In fact, rumors had spread claiming that she was eaten by some monster. She knew it was too good to be true, but at the least she was having a field day of believing that she was free from her harassment. 

“Much like how Amity did a duel with round eyes at that convention, I want to challenge you to a witches duel,” Boscha explained, “the loser becomes the punching bag for the rest of their lives.” 

Willow rolled her eyes clearly not wanting to humor Boscha’s challenge. “If I win, will you not only leave me and my friends alone, but be forced to accept defeat?” 

Boscha snickered in her typical superior way. “It’s not like you’d win, but if you want to die slower, it is a fair idea.” 

Willow extended her hand so they could finalize the deal, but Boscha pulled out her purple scroll and browsed it. “My teacher always complained that I am rotting by brain by looking at my account, but his old butt doesn’t know a thing about how the Isles changed.” 

She looked through the posts. “How is Amity?” 

“She is with Luz now,” Willow mentioned passively, “they are doing...some odd experiment.” 

“What does that human trash have that I don’t?” Boscha asked. She did not really anticipate an answer as it was more of a rhetorical rambling on her part. “Amity had gotten soft because of hanging out with you losers.” 

Willow shrugged. “I don’t know...maybe because Luz is nice to her?” 

Boscha ignored her response and paused on a picture. She brought the scroll down to Willow’s eye level. It was a picture of Skara and the others attending Cat’s birthday party. Willow, Luz, and Gus were there. “How in Titan’s name did you lame-os get invited anyway?” 

“Skara invited us,” Gus said. 

The three-eyed girls looked at Skara with scorn. “You’re friends with these losers now?” 

Skara shook her head. “They’re not losers, they’re pretty cool.” 

Skara took her bag and slipped out a flower that had a face similar to hers. “Willow made this for me.” 

Boscha grabbed the flower and set it on fire. “You are sacrificing your social life for this nonsense!?” She face palmed and took a deep breath. “What else happened while I was away?” 

Principal Bump cowered behind his desk but he also had a vase in his hand. He held it firmly between his hands. “I order you to leave the school at once!” 

The man chuckled from outside the door. “So you are expelling me, old man?” 

“I am warning you, if you don’t leave, I’ll...I’ll...” 

The tall, lanky man was already standing in the room. 

“Now, enough tomfoolery and let’s get to business.” 

He sat in a chair paralleled with Principal Bump’s desk and held his hands up in a dipping motion. He intertwined his fingers before placing his chin on top. He stared at Principal Bump in a mockingly affectionate expression. “It’s been...how many years now, Mr. Bump?” 

Mr. Bump did not say anything at first due to the dread causing his stomach to churn loudly. “What do you want, Nyarlathotep?” 

Nyarlathotep chuckled in his deep voice. “My dear man, you of all people should have known already that I would be back.” 

“If it is the Necronomicon you are seeking,” Principal Bump started, “I will have you know that the one page detailing the incantation to release your powers – page 217 – had been removed from every copy of the Necronomicon including the one that I was assigned with protecting.” 

Nyarlathotep leaned back in his chair, gripping his chest. “You wound me immeasurably, old boy. But I must be the bearer of bad news.” He seized Principal Bump’s mug and drank the hot contents inside of it before speaking again. “I am well aware that you are hiding a secret from me.” 

Principal Bump leaned forward. “Oh? Pray tell me what it is.” 

“Since my return, I have been studying up on a few archives of the Isles,” Nyarlathotep explained, “and I discovered a lovely little monster.” 

“I don’t like where this is going,” Principal Bump stated. 

Nyarlathotep grinned. “Precisely; I am sure you are familiar with Grometheus the Fear Bringer?” 

Principal Bump tensed up. That terrible, blob abomination that every year they had to elect a Grom Queen to fight against it. An entity that could masquerade as the worst fears of its victims with the threat of its release spelling devastation for the denizens of the Boiling Isles. Months back, Grometheus was already bested. For Nyarlathotep to threaten to unleash this unholy beast, Bump shook his head. 

“You can’t be serious?” 

Nyarlathotep kept his grin pasted on his face. “I am afraid, old boy, that I am not bluffing.” 

Principal Bump stammered. “But that beast could probably kill everyone on the Isles if you do such a thing.” 

He clasped his hands together in a praying motion. “Please, Crawling Chaos, do not; please do not harm any of the students.” 

Nyarlathotep gasped. “Oh, you worry your silly little head there, good sir; not one hair on their precious little heads will be disheveled.” 

Principal Bump sighed in relief. 

“As I am sure you can see, I am a fairly busy man,” Nyarlathotep explained, “we are both men in this scenario; I have been around making deals, biding time and drinking apple blood, the usual rendezvous.” 

He leaned in again to stare at Principal Bump. “We are both reasonable; let me cut to the chase: I know that you have some ally on the Earth realm, and I would hope that you’d enlighten me on their whereabouts?” 

“But I have made an oath years ago to protect the Necronomicon.” 

Nyarlathotep raised an eyebrow. “I will present you with two events: either Grometheus is free to stretch his legs again and ravage and sow endless nightmares on you and your students; or subsequently, there lies a world where I receive the information I desire and you and your students will be safe and they will further their education unharmed.” 

Principal Bump scratched his chin. “And I can trust you at your word?” 

Nyarlathotep nodded. “Of course; shall we shake on it?” 

Wary, Principal Bump extended his right hand and shook Nyarlathotep’s. Unbeknownst to him, Nyarlathotep had crossed the fingers of his other hand. 

Boscha waited impatiently for her master’s return. He walked out with his smile even wider than before. She trudged towards him with her crutches. “What is the plan?” 

“Once Miss Blight arrives with the Necronomicon containing the incantation for my powers, everything will change on the Isles.” 

Boscha smiled. “So you’re going to rule the Isles again?” 

Boscha’s smile dropped when she heard what her mentor said next. 

“No; this world had grown ungrateful of the sacrifices I had given for them in order for them to perform magic. This world will be wiped clean and from there shall come a blank slate. From there, I will create a group of people who will have no inclination of resistance for they will not know about the insolence of the old generation. They shall become my people and I will become their god.” 

Boscha almost fell backward. “But what about me?” 

Nyarlathotep pet her shoulder. “You will be by my side as my acolyte. We shall watch together as this world dies and is blown away like dust in the wind.” 

Boscha looked down to think. “But you promised me that I could get my revenge.” 

Nyarlathotep held his hand up. “You can still have it; this world’s destruction will be imminent, but I do love a good duel.” 

As they existed through the gaping hole that used to be the entrance, Nyarlathotep turned to face his protégé. “Did you keep the debris from falling?” 

“Well, thanks to some of the power you gave me, sure,” Boscha replied, “but would it be better to just have it fall?” 

“Boscha, Boscha, that would be wasting time that you could have preparing for your fight. But, please, do create a mirror field around the school. We wouldn’t want to have anyone potentially foiling our plans.” 

The three-eyed girl nodded and held her hands out. Glass began to form around the outer portion of Hexside. Before long, the glass completely encased the school. One of the students ran towards the entrance only to bounce off the glass. “We’re stuck!” 

Nyarlathotep chuckled. “That is how it felt to be trapped in glass for thousands of years; it gives you such displeasure.” 

Boscha looked at the school. “Why this?” 

“Much like observing a mouse in a vivarium to study, the students and faculty will be trapped, desperately searching for a way out of their maze, but all points lead to a dead end.” 

With that, the two made a leave for Belos’ empire.


	16. Dining

The next thing Eda, Lilith, and King knew, they were being escorted into the dungeon whilst still being stronghold by a few of the imperial guards. Nyarlathotep walked in front of them, humming some tune to himself. Once more, he was in his Black Pharaoh form. He turned to look at the prisoners with a half-amused smile. “Be sure to make yourselves at home.”

At the entrance of the dungeon with its large, heavy iron casing, stood Warden Wrath. He gave a slight bow towards the Crawling Chaos to which Nyarlathotep responded to with a wave of his hand. “At ease, Wrath.” 

Wrath examined the prisoners. His yellow button-like lens of his mask lit up. “Eda, the Owl Lady! We meet again.” 

Eda groaned in irritation. “Oh, Titan, not him.” 

Nyarlathotep smirked and tried to stifle a laugh. “I take it that you know this woman?” 

“Yes, my lord; the Owl Lady was the one that always escaped my clutches! Yet for as much as I desired her, she always rejected my advances.” 

He walked up to Eda and morphed his hand into a bouquet of flowers. He held it in front of Eda’s face. “Perhaps now that there is no escape, you could change your mind?” 

Before Eda could reply, Nyarlathotep broke the two up. While his smile was still visible on his face, he tapped his finger against the side of a wall. The sound of his finger echoed through the walls in a dry, hollow thrust. Warden Wrath immediately backed away. Nyarlathotep’s glare never faltered. 

“The human girl is essential in my plans; what would you think would happen if she knew that you laid a finger on her mentor? Need I remind you of the punishment that could transpire for your insolence?” 

Warden Wrath held his hands up. “Yes, my lord. Forgive me.” 

“You are forgiven; now show the three guests to their room.” 

Warden Wrath and the guards took the prisoners and tossed them into a glass cage. Once all three were in, the bindings that were placed on their limbs were removed. When the last guard exited the cage, the door was sealed shut with a wave of the guard’s finger. Nyarlathotep took a chair and propped it down to sit on it. His smile widening to the point of wrapping around the sides of his head, he crossed his leg and held a cup. Almost on cue, another guard arrived on the scene and poured a liquid into it. Nyarlathotep grasped the head of the cup and brought it to his lips. 

“What is your game, Nyarlathotep?” Eda asked.

The glass clicked against the Crawling Chaos’ teeth. He brought the cup down and sighed. “I really love this apple blood you witches brew; maybe moreso than the typical games I engineer.” 

“What are you planning on doing to us?” King said.

“You are all much too valuable to threaten,” Nyarlathotep stated, “it’s really the most mundane of gambits, but I am keeping you all hostage for as long as I like.”

Eda knelt down and clasped some of the shackles. She then made an unprovoked dash towards the glass. The cuffs slammed against the cage. Instead of doing what she had hoped, sparks of white lightning struck her and propelled her back to the ground. The walls jiggled from the magic that composed them. Once the gelatinous walls settled down, the cage regained its still composure. Eda tried it again only to be met with the same result. 

“What is this?” Lilith inquired. She casually poked her finger on the wall only to draw it back when a surge of lightning shocked her. She clutched her other hand over that one. 

“It is a cage that was created by some alchemist using some of my dark magic,” Nyarlathotep explained. “Any normal magic you witches could dish out will only bounce off it. It has the additional benefit of absorbing the magic and blows of other people making it three times as strong as it initially was.” 

“That can’t be true,” Eda denied, “every cage can be broken...just takes effort.” 

Nyarlathotep got up from his chair and rubbed his chin. “It isn’t like you can do much; I sense that your magic bile sac is faulty.” 

“For your explanation, if you must know that I ended up using it in order to save Luz.” 

Lilith looked down at the floor. She really wished that she could forget driving her sister to that point, but what was done was done. There was little inconceivable way that Eda would be able to perform magic again through the biological way. 

“Even if you and your sister, hypothetically speaking of course, transform into your beastly forms, that will not be enough to free you from that cage. Unless...” 

Eda’s eyebrow arched. “Unless what?” 

“You and your sister can always align yourself with me; I can remove your curses if you so please.” 

Eda turned her head in disgust. “Forget it; I am not going to agree to that deal especially because your little pet project lied to my sister about promising to remove my curse.” 

“Of course, he was unable to remove it; he represents only a sliver of my power. If he was able to cure anyone of their ailment, it would only be a temporary fix for a temporary situation. But once I have the Necronomicon in my possession, I can remove your little curse if in return you become my acolytes.” 

“I said no, Nyarlathotep. I will not spend the remainder of my days serving you until the Boiling Isles crumbles away.” 

Nyarlathotep sighed in disappointment. “Very well then; I may as well should just leave you condemned to your tragic fate.” 

The Black Pharaoh snapped his fingers not taking his eyes off the cage. In walked in Kikimora with a plate in her hand. On it was a silver cloche to conceal the contents within. She made a slight bowing gesture to Nyarlathotep and directed one of the guards to create a hole big enough to slide the plate into it. 

“What are you doing now?” Lilith asked in confusion. 

King grabbed the cloche and pulled it away. Underneath the plate were three sandwiches comprised of peanut butter and jelly. The crust of the bread was cut away leaving only the whiteness of the loaves. The three eyed the sandwiches suspiciously before directing their attention back to Nyarlathotep. He sat back down and drank more apple blood from his cup. 

“You may want to eat that,” he said. 

“You can go to Hell for all we care,” Eda declared. 

“Hell? Aw that’s cute,” said Nyarlathotep in a chuckle. “But I do insist on eating those sandwiches; it could may as well be the last time that you eat something in your life.” 

“You likely laced them with some...alien drug,” Eda said, “we do not want anything to do with your sandwich or you.” 

Nyarlathotep shrugged. “No skin off my back then; the clock is ticking.” 

He waved his index finger back and forth as a visual metaphor. “The Day of Unity is just about to take wing.” 

“You always say things on Day of Unity this; Day of Unity that. What exactly are you detailing?” Eda asked aloud. 

“It comes in two forms: first, my servant, Belos, wanted me to specifically destroy the Earth for his cause. I will admit that while I hate the idea of him gaining free will away from my control, he did keep the Isles nice and tidy while I was on temporary leave. I will do such once I regain my full power.” 

Eda tensed up. Her blood ran cold; shivers went up her spine. “Why does he want that?” 

“It is a very interesting story he told me: the reason he hates the Earth so much has to do with him being a temporary parent of sorts.” 

Eda sat down with her sister and King. “A parent? Belos?” 

She turned to look at Lilith. Lilith shrugged her shoulders expressing the same confusion that her younger sister was showing. “Belos never mentioned having any children.” 

Nyarlathotep laughed. “I would suspect not; one day, some human girl found herself wondering in the Boiling Isles along with scraps of metal and other things coming from the human realm.” 

“There were more portal keys out there?” Eda asked.

“I am certain that there were at least a few keys aside from the one that you had in your possession; whatever means she came here, Belos saw some potential in raising the child as a mentor. The child was always kept away in the deeper parts of his kingdom where he bestowed some of his power to her whilst keeping her being a human a top secret. The old man taught her every kind of magic there was under some belief that she would likely continue in his footsteps.” 

King was ripping his teeth into one of the PB&J sandwiches and shoveling large chunks into his mouth. “Wvell, hwhat rappened?” 

“She started to realize the corruption he was poisoning the Boiling Isles with, and she fought against him. Before she vanished, she left Belos in such a bloodied, beaten state, he swore to have his vengeance. From the way he described the beating he was delivered, Belos can now barely hold it together. Give or take a year and a half, I am quite certain that he would be shuffling off the mortal coil soon. With no heir to succeed him, this may as well spell the end of the coven system.” 

The three prisoners looked at each other whilst mentally trying to figure out what human girl would have even dreamed of defeating Belos and leaving him in a near-death state for the rest of his rule. 

Luz and Amity were arriving to Earth at a skyrocketing speed, the pressure of the air around them smacking into them. The brown rat was already further down and using the streams of cloud as a surfboard. Hypnos was following closely behind. Unlike the two girls who flailed their arms against the winds, Hypnos gracefully floated through the mist, his arms pinned squarely on his sides. 

“No fair, how can you do this?” Luz asked.

“Tons of experience, and...lots of drugs,” Hypnos bluntly stated.

“Oh.” 

The two turned back to glaring at the brown rat. “I have the tiniest inkling of where he is going.” 

“Where?” Amity asked.

“Let me confiscate the rat, and you can find me then,” Hypnos stated. 

Hypnos’ astral body curved in the air and jetted down like a heat-seeking missile. It was now just Amity and Luz plunging towards the Earth. Amity’s eyes were open in small squints. The pressure bounced off her eyes shifting them behind the back of her head. She grabbed onto Luz’s hand for dear life hoping that with her combined strength, they could slow down the speed with which they were free falling. 

She looked up at the sky seeing the portal that they had just leaped from. She could hardly believe it: she was now in another realm filled with alien tech her little mind couldn’t even bear to understand. Naturally, she knew that the Earth existed because Luz was a denizen of that world. But never in her imagination or calculations could have prepared her to the implication of a multiverse. The scenarios were limitless: in one, Amity could have been the one who was not born with magic whereas Luz was. She could likely be some other species on another world with a completely different personality. Perhaps there was one where she and Luz..she couldn’t finish that thought due to her feeling the warmness of her cheeks. 

“Amity, is the motion sickness making you sick?” Luz asked.

Amity shook her head to keep her thoughts at bay. “Oh...no. No, I’m fine.” 

She yelped when Luz placed her forehead onto hers. “Are you sure, Amity? Your head feels warm.” 

“Pfft...I’m fine, hahahaha...who’s Amity?” 

Amity’s oddness aside, Luz shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway, we should probably brace ourselves.” 

She pointed to the ground which was now within reach. “Makes me wish Hypnos considered giving us parachutes.” 

Amity was confused. “Par-A-what now?” 

“Whatever, get ready...set....” 

Luz wrapped her arms around the witch girl’s waist. The pupils in Amity’s eyes shrunk. “L-Luz!?” 

Before she could say anything, the air tightened around the two as they faced the full brunt of the fall.


	17. Assault on Earth

“Grrr....what happened? Where are we?” 

Amity’s eyes were caressed with the sudden brightness of the sun. Something felt odd about the situation she found herself in, but she could not put her finger on it. Blaring sounds made her ears tremble. Around her were odd structures extending from the ground and nearly the sky. Her hand probed its surroundings. She had fallen on some hard, rocky material. The fall had kicked the wind out of her lungs, but she trudged forward to get on her legs. 

Even then, her legs felt peculiar. Her knees wobbled and became interlocked. She looked around to see if Luz landed somewhere close to her. “Luz?” 

Beep, beep. 

Before Amity could realize it, a red car was blaring right into her direction. Amity’s legs locked up and she froze there like a deer caught in headlights. More cars were coming down on both sides of what Amity could now see was the road. Amity held her hands up to summon magic from her bile sac, but it was of no use. 

“Amity! Look out!” 

Amity was tackled and pushed off the road just in the nick of time. The driver of the red vehicle temporarily stopped and shook his fist angrily at Amity. “Watch where you’re going, ya fool!” 

Black, suffocating smoke seeped through his exhaust pipe when he slammed on the gas break. His tires left a long, continuous streak of black lines. Amity opened her eyes again seeing that she was now being carried in the arms of another girl. She had braided, black hair, golden eyes, and a green jacket. She grinned, revealing that there was a gap between her teeth. “You don’t run into traffic like that, Amity.” 

“How do you know my name?” Amity asked. She couldn’t help but feel that the voice sounded eerily similar. 

“It’s me, Luz, silly,” the woman replied. 

Amity looked down at her hands finally seeing that she was in a different body as well. She jumped out of Luz’s arms and made a dash towards one of the windows of a building. Fully expectant of seeing her own reflection, instead, her eyes were taking mental notes of a girl with short brown hair, glasses, and a yellow skirt and white top. “Who’s that supposed to be, Luz?” 

“It’s you,” Luz noted. 

“How is this possible?” Amity asked. 

“When we fell, our souls must have gotten into some bodies.” Luz darted her eyes in different directions. “Hypnos said that he would get the rat for us, but where is he?” 

Amity shrugged her shoulders. “I guess we’ll have to find him.” 

The two took hold of a hand and walked together. Vehicles bolted down the road accompanied by people chatting away about different, mundane topics or just about anything to keep the discussion going without hitch. Much like back in Bonesborough, there were a few stands with considerably odd products. Amity stopped in front of a food stand and stared at the strange delicacies. Blood red fruit; yellowish, pill-like serpentines. A sweet-smelling scent of hairy fruits. A nectarine aura radiated from them. Amity’s stomach growled. Just looking at the odd fruits was enough to make her hungry. 

“Hungry, aren’t ya?” 

Amity covered her stomach in embarrassment. “No, I’m not.” 

Luz chuckled and reached for one of the hairy fruits. “This is a real juicy one right here.” 

“What is it?” Amity inquired. Luz and the owner of the stand looked her over in bewilderment. “Anyway, I’ll take two of these.” 

The owner nodded and wrapped the two fruits in plastic before placing them in a bag. He then figured out the amount for the produce with the tax. Luz felt around in the back of the woman’s pocket and pulled out a wallet. Opening it, she retrieved the money for the two fruits and gave it to the man. 

“Thanks for doing business,” the man said, “but be sure to keep that friend of hers from getting run over.” 

Luz and Amity trudged their way a few more meters before making a stop at a bench. Luz motioned for the witch girl to sit down which she does on instinct. Luz opened the bag and reached in to produce one of the fruits. “I know you don’t have these on the Boiling Isles.” 

“What is this thing?” Amity inquired. She held the odd fruit in front of her face and sniffed it. “Smells good too.” 

“That, my dear friend, is a peach,” Luz explained, “it’s hairy, but it is a really sweet fruit.” 

Amity eyeballed the fruit curiously before taking a bite from it. The nectar-like juices dripped down from her mouth. “You’re right; this is good.” 

Luz took a napkin and wiped Amity’s mouth. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” 

“T-thanks,” Amity blushed. She took her eyes off Luz and scanned the surroundings. “So, this is the human world.” 

Luz’s eyes sparkled. “I’m sure you’ll love it here. Why not after we take down Nyarlathotep and Belos we could have a sleepover with my Mami?” 

Amity with Luz? Spending a night together? In cute pajamas? Cuddling? Steam fizzled from Amity’s ears. But she couldn’t shake the feeling of uncertainty. “So....is the Earth safe?” 

Luz raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” 

“Just that...I was always taught that the people of Earth were savage, merciless heathens who would wage war on each other over the most trivial of plights. Humans were these disease-ridden rats who would turn on each other for profit and were never meant to learn magic as it would only further their mindless heathenism and violence.” 

Luz felt her chest tense up from the sensation of being stabbed with an invisible knife. “Wow...that’s deep.” 

Amity looked at Luz with surprise. “So that is true?” 

Luz rubbed the back of her head. “Well, on the most technical of terms..but there are also instances of human kindness and understanding.” 

“I see.” Amity turned away. “The Emperor had always told us that humans were warmongers that could not be trusted. I guess some of that did manifest when I challenged you back at the witch convention.” 

“Don’t worry, Amity,” Luz assured her, “I don’t take any personal offense towards your assumptions. Lilith pretty much had to learn that lesson as well after she had become a roommate.” 

Amity sighed in relief that Luz was not offended by the conditioned prejudices she was indoctrinated with. “I do have to say that there are so many interesting sights here; no wonder Eda collected all this stuff.” 

Luz smiled. “Y’know, I did see a shop close to the park.” 

“You did?” 

“Yeah; something tells me that Hypnos is there.” Luz shrugged. “It kind of fits his mysterious aura.” 

Amity nodded. “Yeah; the strange magic man might have already felt we forgot about him.” 

They threw the seeds of the peaches into a trash can and walk in the direction of the store. Sure enough, it was exactly how Luz described it: it was a small, square store decorated with an eerie green paint which was chipping away in flakes exposing the splintery wooden boards underneath. The shop was placed impossibly between two large buildings. Grass grew around it into long, spindling strands that wedged into the foundation of the shop. A fern tree covered the roof to form a canopy. From the tiny specks of light, they could make out a few letters. 

“Is this the right one?” Amity asked. 

“Well, it said that it was located on 1300 Arkham Drive,” Luz clarified, “so it must be.” 

They cautiously walked through the large columns of grass to get to the door. Inside of the workshop, it was impressively massive and grandiose. Much like the void they had entered through astral traveling, there were doors upon doors throughout the building. Doors of various sizes aligned the walls. On top of those passages were more doors. Along the staircases and the ceiling. Doors, doors. In every hard spot was one. To where the doors led they could not tell. After their trip through the void, they would rather leave it that way. 

“About time you made it!” 

They both turned their heads in shock and stared at a small man. His eyes were the size of dinner plates. He tilted his head making it apparent that it was the only comfortable way he could handle his large organs. His forehead was deeply filled with wrinkles upon wrinkles especially around his eyes. His hair was short and unkempt with its whiteness. The whiskers of his mustache curled in an upward spiral. His beard was long enough to reach the floor. He held up his wrinkled hand and skinny, bony fingers. He held a bust in his other hand. It greatly resembled him to some degree. 

“Hypnos? Is that you?” Luz asked. 

“In the flesh,” he chuckled, “well, this is my actual body.” 

Amity crouched down. “But what about all that power you demonstrated?” 

“Like I said, I jumped out of my body the moment I sensed Nyarlathotep’s return. But I had to keep the old man from getting eroded. Or eaten.” 

As he said that, a small humanoid shape took form and walked on all fours from one of the doors. Its face was bereft of any describable orifices aside from the flashes of yellow, jagged teeth. For all intents and purposes, it made no sound even when its large, bat-like wings fluttered. Two horns pointed inward towards its head. Amity quickly shielded herself and Luz from the bat beast. “Step back, monster!” 

Hypnos laughed until he felt himself wheezing. “Nekron, heel.” 

Before the two girls’ confused eyes, the creature responded and sat down without issue on the ground. It wagged its barbed tail and its paws made a pitter-pattering sound on the floor. Hypnos took his hand and rubbed the side of the creature’s body. It had a slick, rubbery complexion to it. They could see now that the beast was smiling. A horrid, maniacal smile at that, but at the least it diminished a bit of the preexisting notions the girls had on it. 

“What is he?” Amity inquired. 

“A nightgaunt, my girl,” Hypnos replied, “a runt of the litter, really, but he is loyal.” 

After petting Nekron, the nightgaunt stood up on its hind legs beside its master. Hypnos opened a small door to withdraw a tentacle. It was still moving about violently despite long being separated from its owner. Suction cups clicked on each other; slime trickled down his arm when he presented it to his pet. “Take.” 

The nightgaunt obliged and grabbed the tentacle between its teeth before bolting past Hypnos and into one of the doors. Orange light emitted through the door and the nightgaunt disappeared. Hypnos directed the two girls to one of the other doors. This time, it was a large door of indescribable geometry. “Here is my actual workshop.” 

Opening the door, they saw shelves containing jars. Each jar was filled with a yellow substance to preserve its contents. Eyes of different species and sizes; claws and teeth; ancient documents even. Hypnos took one of the jars and presented it to Amity and Luz. There was a brain inside of it. 

“This contains the mind of what came to be called the Great Race of Yith. They were a race of aliens who could travel through all-time by swapping their minds with another race. They could project their consciousness through all space so they could learn about what other races did.” 

He put the brain back on the shelf and withdrew another jar. It contained a small, amoeba creature. It was amorphous in appearance, but it changed its body accordingly to match the jar it was inside. It had roiling eyes and mouths alongside its pseudopodia. The hair on the back of Luz’s neck recoiled which made sense because the creature was focusing its many eyes on her. 

“A shoggoth,” Hypnos answered, “started off as a servant-race created by another species to act as servants, but they turned against their masters.” 

“You know, on the Boiling Isles we have servants too,” Amity pointed out. 

“And what are they called?” Hypnos asked. He was mostly asking for the sake of asking without expecting an answer. 

“Abominations,” Amity replied, “but they are made to never want to go against orders.” 

Hypnos scratched his beard. “Who knows? Maybe some of those aliens discovered your world and subtly mixed their technology with your magic and those abominations you speak of could have been the descendants of this process.” 

“This is all interesting and all, but please tell me that you did get the rat,” Luz said. 

Hypnos smiled. “Of course; look on my desk.” 

The human-faced rat was trapped underneath a small birdcage. The horn fracture it had stolen was on a far side of the desk. “It must have been stuck in the void for who knows how long.” 

The two girls walked to the desk and observed the rodent. It shook its tail wildly whilst trying to figure out a method of escape. Hypnos grabbed a shriveled arm and held it over the cage. Wrapping his fingers around the wrist, blood trickled down from the base of the arm. The rat got up on its hind legs and greedily licked at the red liquid. It messily licked the blood from the corners of its mouth and continued to do so until it had its fill. 

“That is gross,” Luz declared. 

“Oh, it was just hungry is all,” Hypnos noted, “it eats witch blood.” 

“W-witch blood!?” Amity screamed. She backed away from the rodent. “That thing could’ve bitten me and Luz back there.” 

“The rat used to be a familiar that belonged to a witch, but it seems that the witch is long gone. But I did manage to get that horn it stole from you two.” 

“We didn’t just come for the horn,” Amity added, “you know where that book is?” 

“Yes, the Necronomicon, of course,” Hypnos replied, “I will fetch it for you two.” 

He opened a drawer in his desk and withdrew a large book laced with a thickly-tacked on leathery material. “The original Necronomicon; the one that your ancestor, Luz, wrote all those years ago.” 

He handed it to Luz. Luz looked it over sensing some dark presence within it. It came to her in the form of a whispery hiss spewing malicious intent. The book was heavily drenched in only the darkest and most unholy of dark spells that was likely inaccessible to the children of the Isles. This book, with its inhuman spirit and secrets, was not just evil: it was evil in its most pure, and incorruptible of forms. 

“Does this book contain something on how we could kill Nyarlathotep or any god for that matter?” Luz asked. 

“I would advise not looking into the contents of the accursed book,” Hypnos bluntly stated, “it contains information on not just the gods, but secrets of the universe itself.” 

“If Nyarlathotep gets a hold of it, what then?” 

“The Necronomicon was never meant to be read by anyone of this mortal plane; information on dark spells and how to cast them; bringing back the dead to act as your servants; sacrifices to the Old Ones and where these gods of old will once again return. The book must be destroyed at all costs.” 

“That’s a good strategy,” Amity noted, “with no book, Nyarlathotep would still be without powers, so perhaps we can take him down.” 

Hypnos nodded. “Luz, you are familiar with the old ways that magic was done on the Isles I presume?” 

Luz nodded. 

“Through those glyphs, the first witches were able to perform magic. Will you use them to destroy the book?” 

Luz scratched her chin. It was a hard gamble: while it would be easier to read the book to figure out a way to kill Nyarlathotep, with no book at all, Nyarlathotep would still be at a disadvantage. If anything, they could temporarily block Nyarlathotep from enacting the rest of his plan until they could get him weakened enough to banish him. Luz shook her head. 

“Of course.” 

“How are we going to destroy it?” Amity tapped her foot to contemplate. “Well, we could burn it; do you have glyphs for fire, Luz?” 

“That’s genius, Amity!” Luz proclaimed. “Hypnos, do you have some paper I could borrow?” 

"Yes, this is Channel 8 News, and we have a story for you,” an anchorwoman announced. 

Above the city, an insidious rip began to tear into the fabric of reality. The sky fell away in flakes as it widened further. Witnesses of the event stopped in their tracks to record what they were seeing to their social media accounts. Flaming balls descended from the rip and onto the buildings and vehicles. 

“At approximately 3 in the afternoon, a large rip appeared over the sky, and now it appears that meteorites had fallen to the Earth. From what I am hearing, some of our top researchers had speculated that these meteorites could have come here through a ‘wormhole’ if you would call it as such.” 

The balls were dispensed in highly populated areas. Smoke was bouncing off the odd balls emphasizing how intense the heat was around them. Much like any meteorite, the balls slammed into the earth’s crust and created craters around themselves. Much like before, bystanders were casually streaming live videos on the mysterious objects. A man with glasses knelt down at one of the craters. 

“If you take notice of these meticulous details, this metal is unlike any I have seen before in my life.” 

Despite protests from some of the surrounding people, the man leaned in closer for a better look. The ball glowed an ominous red and dematerialized. Before he could react, the ball became a metallic suit of armor and dragged him into the hole. The other balls followed suit and attacked the bystanders. The armor suits lumbered along, each painstaking step after painstaking step. They grabbed ahold of people and tossed them around with little thought of whether they were the targets they were after. 

Vehicles were seized by the armor and smashed to miniscule, insignificant pieces. Attacks were launched at buildings with chunks of debris falling to the ground and onto people desperately trying to escape the damaged buildings. Soon legions of armored assailants made the ground quake. Small fires broke out converting the city into a wasteland. From the destruction wrought on the city, Odalia made her entrance. A large, black knight suit carried her weakened son in its arms. She looked into the staff’s gem for a message. Sure enough, the cloudy mist inside of the gem gave way to reveal Nyarlathotep in his Black Pharaoh form. 

“Very excellent work, Odalia,” Nyarlathotep said. 

Odalia felt her satisfaction bubble up her throat. “Yes, my lord; this is the place where the Necronomicon is located?” 

“Aye, it is; in this city, your insolent child is trying to assist that human girl. They have a helper as well.” 

Odalia smiled whilst clutching the staff in her hand. “I will give her a strong thrashing so that she could be of more use to you, Dweller in the Darkness.” 

“I knew that I had selected the right vict-I mean servant,” Nyarlathotep replied, “once you retrieve the book and the girls, I will provide you the means of return.” 

Nyarlathotep disappeared in the mist once the connection was cut off. She directed her attention towards the armor suits recklessly pulverizing the streets without rhyme nor reason. 

“Lord Nyarlathotep had confirmed that we are in the right place! I don’t care if you have to tear this pathetic rock apart or crush a few rats underfoot: this is the beginning of a new age.”


	18. Assault on Earth (2)

Helicopters hovered over the city at a slight distance from the onslaught of the raging fires. Buildings were reduced to rubble from the relentless attacks of the metallic armor. At roughly four o’clock, the National Guard was ordered to fend off the assaults. 

Tanks and heavy-armed trucks arrived amongst the crowds of panicking people and parked in front of them. The general emerged from one of the trucks to observe the scene. His thick fingers curled as he gestured to his men to take their shields. They formed a long line and drew their shields sharply. They glued their feet to the ground to tighten their grips. 

The suits of armor wheezed and stumbled along in their sluggish pace. Black ooze leaked through the cracks of the metallic plates. Deathly drones of pain bellowed from deep within them, an unearthly sing song tune. With the general’s approval, one of the tanks directed its gun at the metal suits and fired. 

“Alright, men, look alive,” the general announced. 

A thick smoke obscured the suits of armor from the National Guard’s eye. Without warning, a red tow truck was tossed in their direction. 

“Take cover!” he yelled. 

The tow truck rammed into the soldiers, destroying the blockade on impact. The suits attacked the soldiers with violent kicks and thrashing. Soldiers were picked up and tossed into buildings like sacks of potatoes. Many soldiers brandished their knives and were able to strike a few blows on them, but they were largely overpowered and mauled. The crowds of civilians dispersed to escape the madness but were also caught in the onslaught. 

“Yes, I have just received word that the blockade the National Guard attempted has failed.” The anchorwoman from before looked down, befuddled. “There had been an announcement by the mayor that he is issuing an evacuation of the city.” 

Luz and Amity ran out of the workshop with Hypnos following slowly behind. “Never get old like me, kids; your fragile bones will bend and tear out of their sockets.” 

“Where did these armor suits come from?” Luz asked aloud “and who sent them?” 

“Must have been Lord Belos,” Amity noted, “just a hunch given the...futuristic aesthetic.” 

“You do have that book hidden away, right human?” Hypnos asked. 

In Luz’s hand, she held a bag. The bag appeared small on the outside, but it was vastly larger on the inside capable of holding an infinite number of items. The Necronomicon was snuggly tucked away in that pocket dimension. The back of the book was laced with papers that had the fire glyphs on them so that when the opportunity presents itself, Luz would activate the glyphs and it would set the book ablaze. 

“I sense that they must be here for that book in your possession,” Hypnos said. 

“We have to get back to the Isles, then,” Amity said. She looked at the frail old man. “Do you have a portal to the Isles in your workshop?” 

Hypnos crossed his arms. “An infinite number of portals. Don’t even begin to assume that your world is impenetrable from me.” 

Luz firmly gripped the bag. “We can’t go back now.” 

Amity’s head swerved back almost falling off. “Why not?” 

“We can’t let Emperor Belos’ army level this city. And besides, what if Belos had laid a trap for us when we got back?” 

“Well, that could may as well be true, but-” 

“And what could you possibly do anyway?” Hypnos interrupted, “Amity doesn’t have her witch body so she cannot do magic without her bile sac, and Luz, magic is scarce in the Earth realm; you cannot even use those glyphs here, can you?” 

Luz kicked her foot in dejection. “That is true, I admit.” 

“The only suggestion I have is to allow yourself to be captured.” 

“Wha?” Amity shouted. 

“Sh...sh...” Hypnos held his bony finger in front of his mouth. “If you truly care about these civilians, then perhaps offering yourselves up will be a temporary fix to avoid further harm.” 

Luz and Amity looked at each other for a considerably long time, dread being the most prevalent emotion they were feeling. They heard the sound of screaming coming from the civilians being cornered by the armored fiends. Amity saw the determination in Luz’s eyes, the same determination she saw back when she properly met her at the witch convention. Luz was a lot of things: reckless, stupid...very, very stupid...well, she could take it a step further and call her an idiot who also was rather intolerable once her mind became fixed on the subject at the time. But she was also very compassionate and considerate. It was this reason, or a combination of all the aforementioned reasons, that Amity couldn’t help but love her. 

“If that is what it takes to stop Belos, then I guess we can do it,” Luz said at last. 

She took the horn and handed it to Hypnos. “Will you take this back to the Boiling Isles for us?” 

Hypnos nodded. “I will, darling; besides, from what I am sensing, King and the others are at Belos’ kingdom as we speak.” 

As he turned to head back into the store, Luz stopped him again. “Could I ask something else of you?” 

“What is it, child?” 

“Could we have the jar with the shoggoth inside it?” 

“My, whatever for?” 

“It’s just that I feel we might need it once we get back to the Isles,” Luz explained. 

Hypnos sighs. “Kids these days.” 

Odalia was levitating in the air with the staff in her hand. She watched the armors dismantle cars and tossing scraps of metal onto the mass of panicking people. A wicked smirk was on her face. For so long she had reviled humans, something every witch in the Boiling Isles was drilled into believing by the Emperor. It brought a little bit of warmness in her petrified heart that pumped the blood of her bloodline. After waiting a few minutes for her targets to come out of hiding, she was slowly becoming bored. 

She scanned the surroundings and saw a row of six people running in the same direction. She pointed the staff towards the group and began to charge the staff. A red, all-consuming glow illuminated from the gem before a huge, red wave of energy bolted from it. It sliced into the concrete, creating a large, continuous array of cracks. Underneath the concrete, an earthquake shuffled the chunk of the road the six people were stranded on. Powerless, Odalia floated over to the civilians, intimidating them with her staff. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

A portly man took a knee, holding his hands to shield his face. “Please, ma’am, spare us!” 

Odalia scoffed at the man. “A spineless rat; unsurprising of you lowly human scum.” 

She shot a red ball towards him to force him to step back. Once he did, he was cowering with the others stranded. Odalia eyed each of them, uncertain of what to do at the moment to them. “You may not move until I figure out what to do with you miserable creatures.” 

“Please don’t kill us!” a red-haired woman yelled incessantly. 

“I won’t,” Odalia said in false assurance, “as long as you do what I say.” 

“Mrs. Blight, you better stop what you’re doing at once!” 

Odalia turned around and saw two young women standing under the disheveled road. “Ah, you’re the famous Luz Noceda I have been hearing an awful lot about?” 

“How do you know it’s us?” Luz asked. “I look nothing like the wanted picture I have back in the Isles.” 

Odalia laughed. “Essential salts, human. There exists a deeper magic one that is incomprehensible to lowly people as you.” 

Amity stepped in front of Luz giving her mother a hateful stare. “Mom, why are you laying this attack on Luz’s home?” 

“Our emperor Belos had granted me entry into the Emperor’s Coven.” 

Amity’s eyes widened behind her glasses. “Impossible; that goes against the entire method of enlisting witches to join the coven. And I thought you...” 

Odalia tilted her staff. “Regardless of how I got myself into this lavish position, Emperor Belos entrusted me with carrying out his will; the Day of Unity has begun!” 

Luz stepped closer. “Mrs. Blight, I mean no disrespect because you are my good friend’s mother, but can’t you see that Belos wishes to destroy this world?” 

Odalia scoffed. “Who cares about this meaningless world when through my master we can make new ones?” 

Amity clenches her fists. “You are willing to sell what dignity you have left to some maniac?” 

“How dare you speak of Emperor Belos in such disdain!?” She looked at Luz with enough intensity, fire could have danced in them. “What other blasphemous things have you been telling her?” 

Odalia levitated down the chunk of road and tapped Luz with the staff. Amity pried it off Luz’s shoulder. “Enough of that!” 

“Why do you care so much for this rat?” Odalia growled “why would you throw away your future by betraying the will of our master all for this miserable planet?” 

“All my life, I allowed you to control my life; you made me end my friendship with Willow for your own convenience. You forced me to be friends with Boscha when I hated her. I became some cruel, despicable jerk who only cared about trampling the competition. But...Luz is different. She...liked me for me. Not because I was some upper-class witch; not because I was a Blight. She started off being a nuisance.” 

Luz turned her eyes down. Amity saw this and pat her shoulder. They looked at each other for a long time as if they were having a mental conversation. Luz nodded and backed away. 

“But...she helped me that one time when Otabin became a huge monster and nearly destroyed the library; she helped me to face my personal fear; she made me realize how wrong I was to kick Willow out of my life because of some threat you and my Dad made. I realize now that my desires of getting enlisted into the Emperor’s Coven was truly not what I wanted.” 

Odalia raised her eyebrow. “Oh? And why is that?” 

“You were the one that really wanted to be a part of the Emperor’s Coven, weren’t you?” 

Odalia leaned back, stammering. “What? No, it was always-” 

“You failed several times with snagging a spot on the coven, so when you had me, you decided to mold me into wanting that when it was really for you, didn’t you?” 

Odalia scratched her chin for a moment. Another psychotic smirk formed on her lips. “I guess there is no real reason to deny it now; that may as well be the case, but look at you, really.” 

Luz was back to being incensed by what Odalia was implying. “No daughter of mine would ever go out of their way to try to overthrow an empire; why can’t you be more like your siblings?” 

Odalia snapped her fingers to direct the black knight suit to her side. He still had Edric in its colossal hands. It took some time for the two girls to digest what they were seeing, but when it hit them, it did so like a ton of bricks. Amity held the palms of her hands against her mouth to stifle a scream. Edric looked worse than he was initially; now it appeared that his skin was barely holding onto his bones. He was cut down from his initial bodyweight now reminding Amity of the fragility of a butterfly. Edric wheezed but it hurt him immensely like pins were being jabbed into him. 

“Mom...what...what have you done to him?” Amity asked demandingly. 

“Just necessary sacrifices for the future of the Isles,” Odalia stated plainly. 

The cold, disconnected way Odalia exposed her sins unsettled the two. They had thought they could reason with her without being provoked into fighting her (especially because of their magic being gone due to their new bodies), but all bets were off in that moment. 

Amity made a grab for the staff and grappled with it. “What are you little miscreant doing now!?” 

“I am going to break that staff in two to deprive you of whatever pleasure you derive from it!” 

The two family members continued to grabble for the staff when Luz saw the six people still stuck. She looked around for some way to get up there. Sweat beat down the two females’ foreheads the more they struck at each other. Her mother was a lot of things, but she could not deny that she was skilled in her craft. Amity clamped her teeth on her mother’s right arm spurring her into screaming. When she shrieked, she unwittingly cast a red ball of destructive power towards a building and it shattered all the glass in the building and destroyed the foundation. 

A nerve pulsated against Odalia’s forehead. “Enough of this!” 

She smacked Amity across the street causing her to hit a light post. She darted her eyes and saw Luz trying to find a way to get to the captives. Odalia sat down on the staff and made an upward flying motion. The dark magic inside the staff activated and shot Odalia skyward. The six were roughly forty feet from the ground and in danger of falling from the height. 

The captives were once again washed in fear. She scanned them over. Besides the fat man and the red-haired girl, there was a short, bearded man without any hint of hair on his head and an orange shirt and blue jeans. Another one was an elderly woman with two kids to her side. Since they looked like her, Odalia could infer that they must have been the woman’s grandchildren. A boy and a girl. Odalia smiled again and flew closer towards the woman. She clung onto the sides of the kids’ arms. She was five feet tall as opposing Odalia’s height at 6 ft 1 in, but she was stout for her age. 

“Don’t you even think of harming my grandkids, ya witch!” 

“Why thank you,” Odalia said, “they always said that the older you are, the wiser you get.” 

She grabbed the old woman’s shoulders and pitched her aside. The two siblings tried to run, but the older woman was quicker. She seized both of them by the arm and flew back down with the staff. Both of the children were sobbing loudly, mucus dripping from their noses. Odalia presented the two children before a concerned Luz. 

“What are you thinking of doing with those kids!?” 

“A little game; I am sure that you know why I am here?” 

Luz nodded. 

Odalia firmly propped the tip of the staff under the chin of the young boy who was no more than eight. Luz’s eyes widened. There was no way that Odalia would do what she thought. 

“I will give you till the count of three to hand over the Necronomicon to me in orderly fashion, or I will use the unholy power of the Outer God to tear this cockroach’s head clean off.” 

“Odalia, ma’am, please,” Luz begged, “this is madness!” 

“I am already on 2 right now, human,” Odalia announced, “use your time wisely.” 

Odalia activated the magic within the gem and it glowed again. The boy’s tears rolled down his cheeks and underneath his tilted neck. Odalia kept her eyes locked onto the human girl while still holding a praying mantis-like grip on her victim. 

Luz scrambled with her bag and opened it. Amity awoke from her unconsciousness to see Luz retrieving the Necronomicon. They both shared a look of equal concern and the mutual understanding. Luz breathed heavily and slipped the evil book from the deepest compartments of the bag. She then placed the Necronomicon on the ground and slid it towards the mad woman. 

“There; now let them both go.” 

Odalia lifted her hands allowing the sobbing boy to wrestle his way out of her grip. He met up with his sister and, without much prompt, they darted away to find their grandmother. Odalia grabbed the book and held it with both of her hands. 

“Wise choice, human.” 

Odalia placed two fingers into her mouth to whistle. And it is with that, the armor suits stopped their senseless rampages and turned to look at their leader. They wheezed and continually broke apart piece by piece only to try to reassemble themselves. Luz covered her ears when she heard the screaming that the armor suits were making. But their screaming was done completely inside of their minds. Hundreds, maybe thousands of shrieks of burning, electric misery was ringing in their spiritual eardrums. All the screams came together to form one unison of endless suffering in a cataclysmic symphony. 

Each scream was like rusted nails scratching against an endless array of chalkboards. A piercing, sharp pain to obliterate one’s eardrums. Whatever these suits of armor were, they were conceived through an insidious ritual and are desperate for the sweet release of death. 

“Luz? What is it?” 

Luz found herself sprawling on the ground with Amity to her side. Unlike her human friend, Amity heard screaming, but it was not of the visceral variety. But Luz felt her mind becoming undone, or, worse yet, melting and pooling out her ears. Odalia walked towards her amused. 

“It’s an odd thing, really. With that kind of response, I assume that you personally knew those witches whose souls were welded to make the armor?” 

Luz looked up; her eyes bloodshot. “What?” 

Before she could inquire of the Blight family matriarch further, she and Amity were spirited away by the suits of armor and ushered into a portal.


	19. Return to Form

Odalia walked into Emperor Belos’ throne room and prostrated herself before him and Nyarlathotep. “Lord Nyarlathotep, I have retrieved the book.” 

Luz and Amity awoke in the original bodies and sprung back to life. “Uh? What happened?” 

Amity groaned and fell backward her head throbbing with pain. “Why is my head spinning?” Her cheeks grew green and bloated out of the instinctive urge of retching whatever sour contents were churning in her stomach. 

“So that is apple blood,” Luz spoke to herself, “after this, I’m never going to try that stuff again.” 

Amity and Luz stared at each other surprised to find that they were back in their own bodies. They waved their hands in front of their faces and squeezed their arms until they took on a bluish hue. Their probing would only strengthen the notion that they were truly back in their bodies. But one thought came to their minds: if they were borrowing the bodies at the time, then what happened to the original host’s souls? 

“Welcome back to the Isles, human.” 

Belos had gotten off his throne and his large frame towered over the two. Unlike Odalia’s height at around 6 feet, Belos stood at a startling 8 feet. He eclipsed obviously Kikimora, his most trusted servant and right hand, but he was also an imposing figure when it came to the members of his imperial guards. This only accentuated the perceived majesty and authority he encouraged from his worshippers. 

Luz stared at the Emperor with contempt manifesting on her face. “Belos.” 

“I see that you are still bitter over our last encounter?” Emperor Belos asked. It was more a rhetorical question, really, but one he made out of amusement. 

“Where’s Eda?” Luz asked. 

Emperor Belos raised his hand. “Unharmed, I assure you, but we must keep her from interfering with our plans.” 

He looked at the murals depicting the wild witches. “As you may have guessed I had...taken care of the wild magic practitioners...one by one.” 

Luz internally shivered at the implications of what he was entailing. He raised his staff and carefully traced an invisible line through the savage witches on the murals. “The Day of Unity is now upon us.” 

“How dare you send your hideous monsters to attack my home?” Luz demanded. Her fists shook and turned red to match the increasing anger in her face. 

Belos chuckled. “It was more of a method of ringing you out; I knew that because of your compassionate heart that you would rather give yourself up than allow more of those rats to die in your stead.” 

“Well, you got me now,” Luz stated never taking her eyes off Belos’, “so leave the Earth alone.” 

Belos tilted his head. “The Titan proclaims that the Earth must be laid to waste before it returns to its full powers. There is no stopping the inevitable. The Earth will bleed a deep, gushing red, before it crumbles away to its slow, miserable, pitiable demise.” 

Luz fought the urge of drawing a glyph to cave Belos’ head in. “Mami..” 

Belos’ eyes flickered and glowed. “Oh, your mother? She is here.” 

Luz’s eyes shot up. “She is.” 

The metallic fingers of his gloves came together to create an echoing snap. Warden Wrath walked into the throne room alongside the Owl Spy. Luz’s eyes widened, her mouth hanging agape. A middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and tan skin was brought in with chains. A metal ring was fixed around her waist, and the heavy metal shackles around her ankles echoed on the floor in miserable tune. 

She wore glasses topped with a red frame. From what Luz could see, she was a continually tired woman with heavy bags behind her glasses. Her hair was in a disarray as well as her uniform, one of those outfits you would see in hospital settings. Tears were crudely decorated on the woman’s uniform, particularly towards the bottom where the hem of her shirt was. 

“Mom?” 

The woman looked up to see Luz running towards her. “Luz!?” 

Luz jumped and practically tackled her mother. “Is it really you?” 

“It is me,” she stated. She tried to hug her daughter back with her limited capabilities. “I have been so worried about you.” 

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Luz said, looking down. “I didn’t actually go to that summer camp that you wanted me to.” 

“I am just delighted to see that you’re okay,” she replied, “when those letters stopped coming in, I almost had a mental breakdown.” 

Luz felt moisture building in her eyes. She hated that she had to put her mother through that, but she had no other option in order to keep Belos from getting to Earth. She knew that at some point, the letters that she would send her Mom would soon drain up, but she was the optimist believing that she could find a way back home before her mother had the chance to worry. 

Amity scanned the woman Luz was hugging. “Who is that, Luz?” 

Luz looked back at the young witch her smile shining brighter than before. “This is my Mom, Amity.” 

Her mother gave a smile, but it was more forced given the circumstances. Amity’s thoughts spiraled out of control. “My future mother-in-law?” she asked. 

“What was that?” 

Amity quickly caught herself. “Um, your mother and my mother in the same room.” 

Luz’s eyebrow peaked. “Why are you here, Mom?” 

Emperor Belos interrupted the reunion disgracefully. “Yes, why don’t you tell my grandchild why you are here, Camila?” 

The room grew quiet with not even the sound of a pin dropping on the floor could spur any response. Luz eyed Belos sternly. “Grandchild? What are you getting at?” 

“My, Camila, you kept this secret about yourself successfully hidden for years?” Belos asked again. 

“Mom, please, tell me what is going on.” 

Camila sighed. She exhaled sharply now looking at her feet in deep shame. “Luz, you love the Good Witch Azura books, don’t you?” 

Luz nodded. “Me and Amity both; we bonded over them.” 

“What if I were to tell you that there is some truth to those books?” 

Luz couldn’t understand what her mother was saying at first, but it did slowly start to dawn on her. “Are you saying that you’re Azura?” 

Camila snickered a bit and shook her head. “No, no; Azura is a fictional character...but I did use creative liberties when it came with writing the books.” 

The thought that the events of the books, regardless of whether they came about as fictious stretches of the actual events, crossed Luz’s mind. “Why did Belos call me his grandchild?” 

Camila sighed. “When I was around your age, I found myself in the demon realm much like you – I can’t for the life of me remember how if it was through some door or other means – but I was a foreigner in a world that discriminated against humans.” 

Luz listened carefully not noticing that Odalia was singling for her daughter to be taken away. 

“One day, Emperor Belos discovered me with some old scraps of metal and trash and decided to adopt me for reasons I did not understand at the time. He told me that humans were unable to practice magic on the Boiling Isles because of them lacking the bile sac necessary for it, so he placed a bit of his evil, dark magic into my body and took me as a protégé.” 

“So that was why I was able to see those glyphs?” Luz asked. 

“After being trained under him for some time, he told me of the Day of Unity. It was some weird, cultish holiday I had initially taken it. But I soon found out what intentions he had for the Earth, and I fought against him. With his own magic surging through my veins, I easily overpowered the Emperor and...I might have caused him to be in his current unhealthy state of being because I can sense now that Belos is slowly dying.” 

Luz saw discarded palisman carcasses around Belos’ throne. “Was that why you wanted me to stop being obsessed with fantasy books and magic?” 

Camila nodded her head. “It was a selfish thing for me to do, but I wanted to protect you from the knowledge that such a world existed.” She looked at her feet again likely fearful of meeting her daughter’s eyes. “That was why I was hopeful that the trip would remove that desire so you would never come to this world.” 

Luz didn’t know what to say after being given such a bombshell. Her mom knew about the Boiling Isles because she had been there at some point only to somehow escape once things got sour. Now she learned that Belos took her mother in and how she was now his granddaughter. She had his malevolent magic flowing through her body. Her heart was pumping his unholy blood into her veins and through her bloodstream. It made considerable sense because, as was explained to her by Eda years ago, humans could not practice magic. 

“Luz?” Camila asked. 

Luz was still speechless and incapable of reaction. Belos laughed again and tapped Camila’s forehead with the staff. “I was hoping that I could take your daughter in and have her as a protégé to turn her against you, but that plan went awry.” 

He glared at Warden Wrath. “Take her to the execution site.” 

Warden Wrath shook his head and grabbed a hold of Camila. Camila’s legs shook but were heavily weighed down by the shackles. “Luz!” 

Luz tried to run after Warden Wrath, but Odalia shot a blue stream at Luz; it ripped into the floor dividing it in half. “No wrong step, or I will slice you in two as well.” 

“Mom!” Luz shouted. She shot daggers from her eyes at Belos. “Unhand her at once!” 

Belos shook his head. “The sins of the past must be made to pay for.” He exited the throne room before turning around once he reached the exit behind the beating heart of the Titan. “I’ll have my master take it from here.” 

Nyarlathotep, once more in his Black Pharaoh guise, approached the girl. “Hello once again, Luz.” 

“It’s you!” Luz shouted and pointing her finger at accusingly. “Was this all your idea!?” 

“I’m not a man who has pre-made plans just hanging there collecting dust,” Nyarlathotep said with a half-serious tone. “Odalia, give her the Necronomicon.” 

Odalia’s eyes shot up. “Lord Nyarlathotep, why would-” 

“That is an order,” Nyarlathotep replied. His voice went down a couple octaves. 

Shaking, Odalia handed the Necronomicon to the human girl and made her leave. Luz had a weird feeling about this. “What game is this?” 

“When you are literally older than time itself, it’s always best to play a game to take a load off your mind,” Nyarlathotep answered. 

Nyarlathotep snapped his fingers. Above him was a column wherein a trap door opened. From there, she could see a large, glass cage descending. She squinted her eyes to make out the figures. Eda, King, and Lilith were inside. At the side of the cage was Hypnos, once more in his youthful appearance, flowers and all. He held the piece of horn in his hand. 

“Eda!” Luz proclaimed. 

Eda looked up happy to hear her apprentice’s voice. “Kid, you made it!” 

King and Lilith also turned their glances to Luz. King jumped up and down much like how a dog does whenever they are happy to see their owner come back. Lilith smiled as well, but it was a small one. Luz slammed against the cage’s walls. “Youch!” Luz rubbed her injured nose with her hands. “You guys are alive?” 

“Nyarlathotep took us as prisoners and had us as bargaining chips for you,” Lilith explained. 

“Well, don’t worry, I’ll have you out lickety split!” 

“Wait, Luz!” Eda screamed. 

Luz smashed her fist on the glass only for it to bounce back. Thinking, Luz looked into the bag to find something she could use to break the cage. She scribbled glyphs on paper and activated them, but it only made the magical glass stronger. Luz turned to her bag again this time drawing out the jar containing the shoggoth. She tossed it at the cage, but, like with the other objects she tried to use, it rebounded and skyrocketed off the glass. It shot across the room and exited out the door when Kikimora opened it. 

“Luz, you can’t break the glass; we all tried to break it ourselves, but there’s no use,” Eda said at last. 

“There has to be something..” Luz lamented. 

“Aye, there is a way, my dear,” Nyarlathotep answered. 

“Why should I trust you?” Luz asked in a matter-of-fact way. 

“The glass can either be broken two ways; either I can use my powers to free the three captives, or an Elder God can destroy it.” 

“Well, I want you to free them!” Luz declared. 

Nyarlathotep held his finger up. “Quid pro quo, my dear, quid pro quo.” 

“Squid pro what?” Luz reiterated. 

“I will free them and you will all go on to live happy lives if you gave me the book.” 

Luz held the demonic book between her arms. “But I can’t just give the book over to someone like you.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because you’re evil; I know somehow you were responsible for the attack on the Earth; a lot of people could die if I gave you this book.” 

“Are a million lives more important to you than the lives of your mentor; her sister; and your pet?” 

“I am not a pet!” King remarked. 

Nyarlathotep ignored the demon and kept speaking. “It would be an unfortunate occasion if they were ripped away from you.” 

“Nyarlathotep, before you do your business with the three captives, do allow me the opportunity to give this demon his horn back.” 

Nyarlathotep looked at the Elder God with suspicion, but flicked his hand. “At least he should be presentable before dying I presume.” 

Nyarlathotep snapped his fingers allowing a small hole to form in the wall. Hypnos slipped the horn into the hole and it resealed after he removed his hand. Eda eyed the horn piece with curiosity. “It looks like it’s the size of your horn, King.” 

She dropped the horn in King’s lap and he sniffed it. “Feels like it; smells like it to...how did I lose it again?” 

He shrugged and dropped it over the crack of his horn. Before he could say anything further, the missing horn piece slipped in like a jigsaw puzzle. A green light glowed around the horn acting as an adhesive glue. In a flash, everything became crystal clear to King as his memories came blasting in at full force. An overtaking sensation. It all came flashing at once: the woman. The large, bat-like monstrosity with the one, three-lobed, bulging eye. The screams. And the smoky vapor – now he could perceive that it materialized together to form the appearance of a man. A tall man wearing a dark cloak. One who was bereft of any strand of hair and his skin darker than the darkest night. The green orb came out from a spell circle the hideous man drew. His mouth was stretched inhumanly widely into a twisted, ghastly grin. 

“Well, what do we have here?” he asked. 

King sprawled on the floor of the cage sweat beads rolling down his skull head. He retched but nothing came up. Panic was building within him writhing in anguish for release. He looked at Nyarlathotep with complete hatred. “You were the one who killed my Mom, weren’t you?” 

Nyarlathotep looked at him with an amused smile. “You have to be more specific than that, child; I may be eternal, but that doesn’t mean I have an internal memory box that catalogues every individual scream.” 

Luz gripped the Necronomicon with anger. “So you killed King’s mother and cursed him?” She looked at the despairing demon. “And you decided to take it as a memento to remember your kill?” 

Nyarlathotep shrugged. “As I have said, I cannot be held to remember every one of my little endeavors.” 

Nyarlathotep snapped his fingers again. This time, the top of the cage opened with a gush of running water dropping down. Eda and the others were not too freaked out in that moment, but they could quickly see that the more water flowing into their cell, it was accumulating quickly and already taking the shape of the cage. They looked at Nyarlathotep who in turn gave them a look of humor. They banged their fists against the cage’s walls, but it only rebounded on them. 

“Nyarlathotep! Stop this nonsense!” Luz yelled. “You’ll drown them.” 

“I will free them,” Nyarlathotep promised, “but you will have to give me the Necronomicon in return.” 

“And how do I know that you won’t go against your promise?” Luz asked reasonably. It made sense for her to doubt the Crawling Chaos’ claims, but in her peripheral vision, she saw that the water was already up Lilith and Eda’s waists. King jumped on top of Eda’s head to keep his body dry, but this had the negative effect of pushing Eda deeper into the rushing water. 

“I’m afraid that they don’t have long for this world, Luz.” 

Eda and Lilith were up to their necks. “I always thought it would end by some overdose on potion,” Eda lamented. 

Concern was in Lilith’s eyes, but she chuckled at the dark joke. “That’s my Edalyn, alright.” 

Luz found herself in internal conflict. She truly wanted to save the three roommates she had, but she couldn’t just hand a book of such cosmic power to the bad guy. Nyarlathotep seemed to read her mind when he spoke again. 

“I feel that you think that if something were to befall your teacher, you would be lost in the world.” 

Luz squinted. “What?” 

“If you were to give the book to me, I will make you my personal protégé; you will learn about all the secrets of this world and truly become the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. Leagues above your mentor, and even Belos himself. You can reign by my side as I destroy this world and remake it befitting to our image. The universe and the gods themselves will look at you in favor and you would never have the need to want again. Is that a deal?” 

Luz could admit that Nyarlathotep’s deal did have a kernel of her interest. Knowledge over everything could come in handy. While she did love Eda dearly, Eda was at a loss now because of her magic being at an all-time low. Maybe with Nyarlathotep’s help, she could learn a way of curing Eda of her curse and subsequently return her back to her previous state. As she thought, she took another glance at the cage now taken aback. The three captives were completely submerged in the water and were desperately hitting the walls of the cage in hopes of breaking them. Liquid was filling their lungs, cutting their oxygen supply sharply. They moved their legs back and forth in a fishy motion. Yet for every strike and punch they could muster, the cage’s walls jiggled back from the brunt force. 

Luz turned to Nyarlathotep. “No; I refuse.” 

Before Nyarlathotep’s eyes, Luz flipped the Necronomicon over revealing several fire glyphs on the back. Nyarlathotep’s eyes bulged from their sockets. “Mortal, please reconsider!” 

Luz took another glance at Eda and the others and saw that their movements were screeching to a halt and they sunk towards the ground of the cage. Luz had made her decision. She slammed her hand on the back of the Necronomicon, and it erupted in flames. 

“No!” Nyarlathotep screamed. 

The flames licked the ancient, crisp pages of the Necronomicon and exploded. A shrill hiss filled the air to indicate that the malevolent spirit lurking in the pages of the banned book was dying. Dark green, eldritch smoke crawled out of the embers of the fire and ascended skyward. Luz heard the pages crackle and pop reminding her of the sweet smell of fresh popcorn like the kind you could get at movie theaters. With one final death throe, the Necronomicon crumbled into a heap of ashes. 

Luz looked at Nyarlathotep spitefully. “You have lost, Nyarlathotep.” 

Instead of seeing his hurt, irritated face, Nyarlathotep was once more smiling. He chuckled deeply from the darkest, deepest regions of his stomach. He held his hands over the burning heap that was once the Necronomicon and absorbed a black light that suddenly appeared. He grew larger with his arms and legs becoming more muscular and pronounced. His abdomen became gargantuan as well to accentuate his broad shoulders. No more did he resemble a human, even if a crude mockery of one. He was now a hulking monster with rows upon rows of sharp, jagged teeth. 

A wave of dark power rocked Emperor Belos’ throne room and empire. It shattered the glass cage containing Eda, Lilith and King, and they were washed out on the floor. Eda coughed up the water in a wheeze. “That was close.” 

Before she said anything else, she saw Nyarlathotep tower before them. Alerted, she looked at Luz. “Kid, did you destroy the book or not?” 

“Yes, Eda, I did, but...something came up that I did not anticipate.” 

The ceiling shook and debris started to sprinkle down. From the point of origin, the dark wave of evil magic wreaked havoc through the Isles due to its intensity. Many of the imperial guards were caught in the wave and effortlessly disintegrated. Buildings and houses crumbled from their destroyed foundations compelling the denizens to evacuate from their houses lest they were the casualties. Emperor Belos hid away alongside Kikimora. 

“Sire, what happened!?” Kikimora asked. 

“It is nothing to be concerned about, Kiki,” Emperor Belos replied. He eyed his throne room. “So it did work as planned.” 

Nyarlathotep cackled his deep, monotonous voice shaking the floor. “It has been a thousand years, but it was completely worth it!” 

Luz couldn’t comprehend what had happened. “But..but I destroyed the Necronomicon; you saw it.” 

“I had already overseen the notion that you would refuse to rule by my side, but the good thing about it is that even if you accepted, it wouldn’t have mattered. I would still have reclaimed the powers that I lost. Even if you destroyed the book, that would entail that my powers would be returned to me either way.” 

Luz looked down. “Then it is truly hopeless.” 

Nyarlathotep raised his large scepter. “Before I lay waste to this world, I did promise Boscha that I would humor her little battle with your friend; may as well set the stage for it.” 

“I’ll find a way to stop you,” Luz declared. It was a heat of the moment thing, but she truly did mean it. 

Nyarlathotep chuckled. “After Boscha wins, I guess I’ll honor my deal with Belos and destroy the Earth for good measure.” 

With that, Nyarlathotep transformed into a black wind and swirled out of the throne room cackling his head off.


	20. Escaping Hexside

“So you’re telling me that even though you destroyed that book Nyarlathotep got his powers back anyway?” 

“Yes, Eda, that is what happened,” Luz answered solemnly. 

Eda sighed. “Well, I guess that means we’re dead then.” 

Luz’s eyes gleamed. “We can all agree that it is worse than my realization that my Mom wrote the Good Witch Azura books and that I’m Emperor Belos’ granddaughter.” 

Eda nodded. “Yeah, that is ba-wait, what was that last part?” 

Luz chuckled. “Yeah, that was my exact reaction as well.” 

“Makes sense now that I think of it,” Eda noted, “but isn’t it kind of...” 

“Cliche?” Luz added onto her thought. 

“What is a cliché?” 

Lilith interjected. “This is not the most appropriate time for a conversation of this caliber.” 

The Owl Lady and the human girl nodded deciding to speak more about the revelation at a later time. 

The witches of Bonesborough scrambled to obtain a state of control over the sudden wave of dark magic that rocked the town and desecrated their buildings. Houses built alongside the body of the Titan crumbled; stores were wiped clean. Most of the witches set their differences aside to use their magic to prevent debris from falling on them. 

The streets were alive with the sounds of ceaseless chattering and raving over the events. Elder witches overexerted themselves with trying to use their magic spells to keep falling columns of buildings from flattening witchlings. From the destruction wrought, the sky darkened from a sudden storm. It thundered loudly as though it were a living creature. The light from the sun completely absorbed into the vast blackness of the insidious clouds. 

“What is going on!?” one of the male witches yelled. 

Thick, sickening black clouds rolled in silently with the currents. Due to the Boiling Isles’ equivalent of weather being a series of plagues, the witches were already dashing here and forth to get under some scrap of wood or a crude assembly of broken rocks to avoid their skin getting scorched by the acidic precipitation. The cloud loomed over the town for a couple seconds. The cloud swirled and writhed in sickly fashion until they merged together to create a large figure. 

It towered over the town with its ghastly size and boding physique. It was a man, swathing with blackness even darker than the darkest of nights. He resembled a man of some high status perhaps one of the elder kings. The man had some aura to him that made the witches freeze in place out of bewilderment. 

“Children of the Isles,” he announced, “it has been far too long, has it not?” 

The witches looked at each other befuddled. They could sense that there was a twinge of hostility he had with the declaration. 

“I see that your scholars had successfully managed to completely blight my name from the records of the Isles.” 

He snapped his fingers. A large slab of rock emerged from the ground and was crafted into a throne for the large being to sit down in. He flicked his fingers drawing a huge chalice filled with apple blood. He took a large swig of the sweet nectar before speaking again. 

“It is disheartening that this is the state that I left the Isles in thousands of years ago; after literally drawing into my very being and giving your ancestors magic, this is truly the gratitude that you would give me?” 

After taking a long drink of the apple blood, he tossed the chalice away blissfully ignorant of the explosion it caused. “All of you are ungrateful; that ungratefulness lasting from generation to generation. Well, no more.” 

Massive claws surged and bubbled on the Dark Man’s fingers. Before their eyes, he tore open a portal in the space-time continuum. The way in which he tore away reality with such ease amazed the witches but also filled them with despair. Never had they seen something of this caliber in the long history of the Boiling Isles. The sheer raw power that this tall man possessed was unnatural. 

Droves of crustacean-fungus like anomalies escaped the rip in space-time. Like locusts, swarms of these creatures blotted out the sun. They came upon the citizens of Bonesborough in such frenzy and lifted them into the air. Swarm after swarm arrived to abduct more citizens and fly them to an uncertain fate. 

Smirking, he opened another portal and withdrew his scepter. The large gem in the middle of it glowed and began to twist and pull reality around it. Portions of the Boiling Isles started to fade out of existence. The fabric of reality was further ripped down to the seams exposing the backdrop of the pure darkness of the void. Strange masses of tentacular monstrosities fizzled from the darkness of the void. 

Before any of the witches could react, those that were captured by the winged anomalies were seized and suspended in midair. They fought against the invisible forces holding them in place, but all they could hear was the deep, sinister, shrilled laughter of their tormentors. Invisible, inky tentacles wrapped around them contributing to more frantic movement. With each movement only strengthening the monster’s grasp, sharp suckers stabbed their way through their bodies. Splintering pain flowed through their bodies as they heard the maniacal laughter of the obscure beasts and the hideous sound of their blood being greedily sucked away. Blood was visibly getting vacuumed through the tentacles of the beasts who now were shown as having no visible face rather a large mandible surrounded by endless numbers of appendages. They were becoming bloated from the blood. 

The tall man looked at the chaos with a lack of interest. Stretching his arms, he drew from the ground again and mentally crafted it into a chariot. Once the chariot was made, he summoned more creatures from the void. They resembled birds, larger than the ones typically seen on the Isles roughly the size of an elephant. And yet instead of beaks and feathers, they instead had heads calling to mind a majestic horse; in the place of their feathers were slimy, oily scales of a reptile. They flew in a galloping fashion neighing in the presence of their summoner. Legions of these bizarre horses stopped in front of the chariot and were strapped in ropes. He got up from his makeshift throne and perched his large frame in the front of the chariot. 

“For thousands of years ever since your ungrateful ancestors locked me away, the one thought consumed my mind; that being vengeance.” 

He stared over seeing Belos’ empire at a far distance. “You are all cordially invited to a party.” 

They looked at the peculiar man with worried expressions. 

“Before this day is done, the Boiling Isles will be torn down brick by brick, to its smallest atom and from that level of devastation will birth a new age. Out of the ashes of the fire, I will build a new world where my acolytes will not know of what came before them and will pledge their allegiance to me and me alone.” 

The witches screamed in unison again. “What do you want from us?” 

He held his scepter out and twirled it at them. “My star protégé will be taking on one of your witches; consider this a good show that will satiate my boredom long enough to temporarily withhold the destruction of your world.” 

He took his scepter and smacked it against the rim of his chariot. The horse monster, now recognized as being his shantaks, squealed and began to flap their massive wings. With a galloping motion, the legions of winged creatures lifted the heavy chariot off the ground and into the air. 

“Come on, put your back into it,” a teacher yelled. 

One of the teachers used their finger to create the illusion of a battering ram. With it, he sprinted for the entrance only for the device to fail when the dark magic holding the barrier in place rebounded on him. He was flung back landing where the guard that Nyarlathotep merged with the lockers was located. 

The Abomination Teacher ordered his abomination to use its fists to punch a hole in the barrier. Like any other abomination, it followed his command, but the result was always the same. The magic wall was reducing the abomination down to the stumps of his hands forcing the abomination to temporarily become undone and then reassemble itself to try again. 

“Are we going to die in here?” a student whimpered. 

Principal Bump put his finger against his mouth. “Now, now, calm down, everyone: we are not going to die.” 

None of the students were truthfully convinced by the Principal’s words yet they were trying to grant themselves a little sense of normalcy. The Abomination Teacher called his abomination off and he looked at the school’s principal. “Sir, is there something on your mind?” 

“Could we discuss it by ourselves?” 

The Abomination Teacher ordered for his servant to keep guard of the students and walked over to Principal Bump. Sternness manifested through his eyes. “What is actually going on? Who was that man?” 

Principal Bump sighed. “There is so much more behind the history of the Boiling Isles that was expunged from the records; one of them involved a figure who was probably one of the most evil beings I have ever encountered: now I fear he had returned to his full power.” 

“Well, what can we possibly do about this...man?” 

Principal Bump shook his head. “The magic barrier he made was designed using a powerful, dark otherworldly spell that I am afraid no ordinary witch can ever hope to make as much as a dent in it.” 

Eyes widened, the Abomination Teacher spoke again. “B-but if the students find out-” 

“Hush!” 

Principal Bump looked behind a corner making sure that none of the other students were eavesdropping on their conversation. “We should probably keep the students occupied for a while to keep them from inciting a hysteria.” 

The Abomination Teacher also gave a passing glance behind the corner. “And there is nothing we can do?” 

“Aye; either Nyarlathotep returns and removes the enchantment spell he placed on the school, or” 

“Or?” 

“Or we could get lucky and have an Elder God come to our defense and destroy the barrier.” 

The Abomination Teacher squinted his eyes. “An elder god?” 

“It’s going to be a long discussion,” Principal Bump emphasized, “so listen carefully.” 

Skara and some of the popular clique took their text books and slammed them on the outside. The books returned at full force towards their owners. Only Skara was able to narrowly avoid getting creamed by the books by ducking, but the same could not be said for the other girls. 

“What kind of magic is this?” Skara asked aloud. 

Gus scratched his chin. “Looks like something you’d see being made by the construction coven.” 

He placed his hands against the wall of the barrier, pressing his palms. “Something tells me that this isn’t even the native magic common here.” 

“I am getting really concerned for Luz and Amity,” Willow said. “There should be some way to contact them.” 

She drew a circle in the air and retrieved her purple scroll. She tried to login to her Penstagram account, but the connection was not getting through. A few more of the students saw what Willow was doing and they to took out their scrolls to call for assistance. However, much like before, the connection was terminated. 

“Somehow the magic barrier had cut us off from the outside world,” Willow observed, “we’re sitting turtle ducks now.” 

As she turned away, she caught something in the corner of her eye with her peripheral vision. One of the students had a potted plant that was pitched at a window prior to their imprisonment. It appeared to be a cross between a Venus flytrap and a tomato plant. For whatever reason, likely because of it being almost tossed out the window, it had its large mandibles wrapped around a piece of the magic barrier keeping the shield from completing. 

“Willow, squeeze yourself through the opening,” Gus said. 

Willow looked carefully at the escape route that was seemingly pre-ordained. She then looked at Willow and the others. “Don’t worry; I’ll tell Luz what happened and maybe she and Eda can help us.” 

Taking a short breath, Willow cautiously slid herself underneath the opening while ensuring to not catch the wrath of the sapient plant. Her head and shoulders successfully slid under the barrier followed by her torso. Squeezing her ribs under, she froze for a moment upon hearing a crackling sound. Purple sap was dropping onto her abdomen. Looking up to her horror, the dark magic was slicing its way ever slowly through the potted plant. It still had a strong grip on the barrier, but for how long, Willow could not say. Scrambling, Willow’s forearms bent and nudged the grass. 

Grunting, Willow ben her body in a backward motion practically falling out the school with the back of her head. Now with better maneuvering, Willow quickly drew in her legs. The barrier sliced through the plant’s mandibles like a guillotine splattering its sap on the window and its sill. The school was now completely devoid of any alternative sources of escape. Willow got up on her feet and wiped the dirt off her clothes. 

“Don’t worry, guys, I’ll be back!”


End file.
